House of Reps. members set to battle President Jonathan over tenure elongation

There are reports that some members of the House of the Representatives are set for showdown if there’s any request for further extension of the 2015 elections by 6 months from President Goodluck Jonathan. A member who spoke to Daily Trust alleged that although Jonathan had said that the May 29 hand-over date is “sacrosanct”, there were plans to come up with a request based on Section 135 of the constitution so that the National Assembly would extend elections for 6 months, thereby extending Jonathan’s tenure.

Another lawmaker told Daily Trust that some of his colleagues had already started making moves to create an enabling environment for such a request to scale through but added that “we won’t allow that to happen. I can tell you that some of their foot-soldiers among my colleagues have started working towards that. About three people called me this afternoon on this issue, saying we should support it. The lawmaker added that part of the plan was to woo members with financial inducements “since some of us did not get return tickets, while others are saying that they’ve spent a lot of money during the campaigns, so the 6months additional period will give them time to recoup their money.

“My tenure ends on May 29, because that is the mandate given to me by my people. I won’t take part in any illegality, although I have my return ticket,” saying “it’s really a dicey situation we may find ourselves,” he added. Another lawmaker said no matter the amount of money that might be given, “we will not allow some selfish individuals to truncate our democracy.” Similarly, House spokesman Zakari Mohammed told Daily Trust that as they reconvene today, they would do everything possible to see that the new elections dates were adhered to, saying they would not approve any extension.

Asked if the House would endorse polls shift outside May 29, Mohammed said “It’s not possible. Nigeria is not anybody’s estate that they’ll change the rules in the middle of the game. The May 29 date is sacrosanct. We’ll invite all the agencies involved so that there won’t be another shift. It’s not possible to postpone again; we won’t accept that.”

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About Unknown

Deji Sadiq, a.k.a DEJI OF LAGOS is a LASU trained Economist turned freelance journalist, a Blogger, an information strategist, a public affairs analyst and a committed activist with a passion for equal opportunities.