Term Limit For President: I Stand By The Nigerian Constitution – Lawan
BY VICTOR BUORO, ABUJA – President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan on Tuesday denied ever advocating for tenure eleongation for President Muhammadu Buhari.
Lawan said that it is ludicrous to imagine that he would ever be in the vanguard of any such misadventure that is certain to fail if ever pursued again.
The Senate President, who stated this in press statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media, Ola Awoniyi, said that he has never found anything wrong in that provision of the Constitution and has always stood firmly by it.
The trending story was quickly castigated following earlier statement credited to Lawan, who once said that any request from President Muhammadu Buhari would be approved by the Senate cum National Assembly he leads because the President means well for Nigerians.
The denial by Lawan of the amendment of the Constitution to accommodate tenure elongation for the President, has really taken Nigerians by surprise against the backdrop of the fact that the Senate under him is being perceived or seen as an appendage or rubber stand chamber of the Presidency.
Lawan however said; “The 1999 Constitution has a firm position on the tenure of the President that reflects the popular stand of Nigerians.
“Section 137(1)b states as follow: A person shall not be qualified for election to the office of President if (b) he has been elected to such Office at any two previous elections”.
The statement explained that noted that Lawan was a member of the National Assembly when in 2006, it threw out an attempt to amend that section of the Constitution and elongate the tenure of the President.
He said; “The National Assembly acted then in obedience to the overwhelming popular desire of Nigerians”.
Lawan, who stated this to a trending story that he declared that he would gladly amend the constitution for tenure elongation of the President if President Muhammadu Buhari indicates interest, said that the quotation was a fabricated statement.
Lawan said; “In the mischievous tweet, the Senate President was quoted as saying he “won’t mind a constitutional amendment to allow unlimited term of office for President if President Buhari wishes to remain in office beyond 2023.”
“Our intial reaction was to ignore the ignoble mischief especially since it is not new, having been posted two years ago on 27 March 2019.
“But because the tweet has been trending again on social media, it becomes necessary to issue a formal rebuttal of its purport.
“We therefore say categorically that the Senate President has never made any such statement, before or after 2019.
“The old tweet which was entirely the handiwork of mischief makers is now being circulated again on social media by purveyors of fake news,” it states.
Lawan therefore declared that he stands by the well-considered and roundly appreciated provision of the Constitution on the issue and will never subscribe to any move to amend it”.
The Senate President therefore enjoined members of the public to ignore the old fabricated statement that was mischievously attributed to him and being circulated by mischief makers.
