There are indications that the All
Progressives Congress is uncomfortable
with the May 28 handover date
proposed
by the out-going administration.
Investigation by Saturday PUNCH
revealed that the outgoing President
Goodluck Jonathan and the President-
elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) are
set to clash over a proposal by the
Jonathan team to hand over the mantle
of leadership to Buhari on May the 28th,
instead of the 29th.
Saturday PUNCH gathered that the Buhari
team was already over what they
considered as an act of ill-will laced with
sinister motives.
This is sequel to an announcement by
the Minister of Information, Senator
Patricia Akwashiki, that President
Jonathan would perform the handover
ceremony at a dinner on May 28.
Akwashiki made the announcement after
Wednesday’s Federal Executive Council
meeting.
She told journalists, “By May 28, the
President intends to have the formal
handover done at a dinner so that we can
reserve May 29 for the incoming
government.”
However, since the return of democracy
in 1999, the traditional date for the
handover of power has been May 29,
which is also observed as Democracy
Day.
This tradition has been the vogue for the
past 16 years. It also presents an
opportunity for the outgoing President to
formally present the instrument of
authority to his successor in the full glare
of members of the public, local and
international media, as well as foreign
dignitaries.
A top member of the All Progressives
Congress, who spoke on condition of
anonymity because he was not
authorised to speak to the media said, “It
is simply not acceptable, we are rejecting
it, it is a trap.”
He explained that from a security point of
view, it could be considered a trap.
“How can anyone explain a situation
where an outgoing president and his
team will conveniently excuse
themselves from an event where they are
supposed to play a role when the
President-elect and the Vice-President-
elect are supposed to be present?” he
queried.
According to the party chieftain, power
abhors a vacuum as such, the
constitution does not envisage a
situation where Nigeria will be without a
sitting President even for one hour.
He said, “If Jonathan hands over on the
28th, who accounts for the hours before
the morning of the 29th when the Chief
Justice of the Federation is to administer
the oath of office and the oath of
allegiance?
“What if there is even a sinister motive to
this whole saga? As the President of the
nation; who will still be the Chief Security
officer until he hands over, there is no
excuse that is strong enough to excuse
him from the event.”
When contacted, a member of the Buhari
campaign team, Mr. Rotimi Fashakin,
said while he was not privy to any
meeting on the subject yet, it was only
logical to ask Nigerians not to rest on
their oars until total liberation was
achieved.
He described the announcement by
President Jonathan to hand over a day
earlier than was due as a ploy to rubbish
the gains made with the historic win by
the opposition APC.
Fashakin said, “It (the proposed
handover on the 28th) portends ill for the
political destiny of this nation.
“That statement is loaded and it shows
that the Nigerian people should not rest
yet that there is still ominous signs
which we should never take for granted.
If Jonathan truly said he is handing over
on the 28th it presupposes that he will
be absent on the 29th.
“Number one, if he hands over on the
28th to the President-elect, does Gen.
Muhammadu Buhari start to act
effectively on that date? The answer is an
emphatic NO.
“GMB does not start to act on that date,
if you get what I mean. Handing over to
GMB on that date is not only
meaningless, it is stupid. It has no
meaning in law, or reality. It means that
for 24 hours before GMB takes over there
will be a vacuum.”
He further argued that on the side of
morality, Nigeria borrowed its
constitution substantially from the
American Constitution, and as such, it
should learn a thing or two about how it
operates.
He said there was never a time in
recorded history where an outgoing
American President, who is hale and
hearty, will absent himself from the
handover ceremony of his successor no
matter their political differences.
Although, it is not yet clear how the
Buhari team would handle “this threat,” it
was learnt that the party’s legal team is
being put on notice to be on the alert.
It was also gathered that the President-
elect and his team have kept the issue of
ministerial appointments in abeyance.
A member of the party’s National Working
Committee, who pleaded for anonymity
because he was not authorised to speak
to the media, said, “The general is a
meticulous person and we all know that
the main task before us now is the
transition committee. The issue of who
will be minister has been kept in
abeyance.”
When contacted to speak on the
president-elect’s views on the handover
date and appointments, the APC National
Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed,
said, “You will get our reaction later after
due consultation.”
Attempts to speak with the Minister of
Information proved abortive. She was not
in the office when our correspondent
visited. However, the Personal Assistant
to the Minister on Media, Mr. Joseph
Mutah, promised to get in touch with her
and revert to our correspondent.
He had yet to do that as of the time of
going to the press and when his mobile
number was called, he did not pick the
call.
The Information Minister had also after
the FEC meeting said the President had
directed all Ministries, Departments and
Agencies to prepare their handover notes
and submit them to the Secretary to the
Government of the Federation, Pius
Anyim, on or before Monday.
According to her, it is Anyim’s
responsibility to compile the notes,
which will form Jonathan’s handover
document to Buhari on May 28.
She had said, “You know May 29 is our
Democracy Day. So, we have activities
lined up all through that week,
showcasing all what we have achieved
and all other things we do normally on
our Democracy Day except that this year
is special with the inauguration of our
new President that is coming up on May
29.”
The minister said the valedictory FEC
meeting would hold on May 20, adding
that everything that required the
President’s approval must have been
presented to him by May 13.
Meanwhile, two Senior Advocates of
Nigeria, Sebastian Hon and Joseph
Nwobike, on Friday, disagreed on the
appropriateness of President Goodluck
Jonathan’s decision to hand over on May
28 instead of May 29 when his four-year
tenure will statutorily end.
The two lawyers spoke with one of our
correspondents in separate telephone
interviews.
Hon insisted that the best option was for
the President to hand over on May 29 as
past presidents had done.
But Nwobike said nothing was
unconstitutional in the president’s
decision as handing over is a process
that would end with the inauguration of
the incoming president on May 29.
Nwobike said, “Handing over is a
process and not an event. So the paper
work will be done on May 28 and the
formalisation and the completion will
occur on May 29. So there is clearly
nothing unconstitutional about it.”
But Hon queried the basis for the
President’s plan to hand over on May 28
as doing such on May 29 as it is usually
done would not affect the nation’s
democracy.
He said, “The best and the most
appropriate thing to do is for President
Jonathan to hand over at 12.01am of the
morning of May 29, 2015.
“If he hands over before May 29, it
means he is no longer the president. He
should hand over by 12.01am of May 29
or do as the usual practice by 7am in the
past. It will not be late if it is done by
7am on the morning of May 29.
“Remember that all former presidents
took over on the morning of May 29. If he
does that, nobody will query him and the
transition will not be truncated.”
