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Mr. President, Get It Clear, The Constitution Did Not Say You Must Return After This Tenure -By Ifeanyichukwu Mmoh

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The political activities that has dominated the polity in the build-up to the 2019 general elections; particularly the February 16th presidential elections leaves much to be desired. The manner in which principal gladiators are carrying on simply suggests that either they did not understand relevant provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) or that they by their attitude are clearly unwilling to uphold our nascent democracy as their legacy.

For the two major contenders; campaigns should be about mudslinging rather than about issues affecting the federation. Most culpable in this style of politicking are members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and their presidential hopeful – General Muhammadu Buhari. Mr. President, just last week you were quoted as making inciting statements to the effect that indigenes of Zamfara state must feed well and then they could fight.

Shortly before then, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai – your strong ally – was also quoted as making threats to the lives of observers of foreign descent should the elections go wrong – that is, should your party the APC fail to return – and that they would go from Nigeria in body bags, if the APC fails. My concern with all these threats is the fact that as the ruling party, you have failed to realize the position that you should maintain as the government in power.

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Ifeanyichukwu Mmoh

You fail to understand that your position as the government in power as well as that of an interested party was a position that should be about reinforcing the confidence of the Nigerian people in our democracy. Yesterday – February 13th 2019 – another peace accord was signed, making it the second to be signed in the build up to the 2019 elections. Today, 16th February INEC postponed the exercise in a rather callous manner.

The question is: Is your government truly sincere with the promise to deliver a credible election? That said, I decided to write this just so I could remind Nigerians particularly you; Mr. President and your political party about what the constitution meant when it talked about a second tenure of 4 years for the incumbent. Many years ago, two things did happen that made the need to understand and rightly interpret the constitution a necessity.

The first was when then President Obasanjo declared the office of his Vice as vacant in 2005. The second was when the INEC conducted elections in Anambra state in 2007 during another election year and maintained that the election year superseded the provisions of sections 180 subsection (2a &b) of the constitution. In the first instance, the Supreme Court ruled that according to sections 45 of the constitution, a presidential candidate and his vice ran for office on a joint ticket and that meant that the president lacked powers to sack his deputy.

In the second instance, the Supreme Court ruled that according to sections 180; following the oath of office and oath of allegiance, the office of governor shall be held by the governor for a period of four years. Meaning that the election year did not in any way supersede the constitutional provisions. This respective precedence will remain a standard to fall back to in the event of any constitutional crisis.

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Now, drawing strength from the aforementioned it is unlikely that with the arrogant posture that you (Mr. President) and your party men and women have carried this re-election thing; you (Mr. President) understood what sections 135 subsection (2)a of the constitution meant. Sections 137(1)b of the 1999 constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria is very clear and it NEVER gave hope to the incumbent for a second term in office neither does it DISCOURAGE the incumbent from trying his/her luck.

Sections 135 (2) states: Subject to the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, the President shall vacate his office at the expiration of a period of four years commencing from the date, when –  (a) in the case of a person first elected as President under this Constitution, he took the Oath of Allegiance and the oath of office. And Sections 137 (1) 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.

Mr. President; you and your image managers have gone about town bombarding the airwaves with developmental achievements the administration has so far recorded. You have reminded the suffering masses that you have been able to do more with less. In like manner, your street managers that included thugs, riff-raffs and jobless drug addicts who I am made to understand – according to Mohammed Shehu – are beyond your powers’ to control, brandish machetes, daggers and dangerous weapons amid war songs.

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They do this with a body language that suggested chaos if you fail to return to power after the elections. What you have failed to grasp is the fact that the Nigerian masses aren’t so interested in knowing what has been achieved in your 3 ½ years in office once they’d discovered the heart of the man they called their president. By all standards, the Goodluck government did more but was voted out because they failed to carry the people along.

Your government came to power with the promise of CHANGE but in all that the country has gone through in the 3 ½ years of your stewardship; you have failed WOEFULLY in carrying the people along. Your body language suggests contempt for the people and the demeanor of an emperor when it should’ve rather shown the servant-leader quality that would’ve enabled you assuage the hurting of the masses.

The likes of Senator Dino Melaye opposed your policies and you attempted severally through your former IGP Ibrahim K. Idris to do away with him. The very obviously confused Nnamdi Kanu came up against you and was banished from the land. Proponents of restructuring came on board and you told them they wasted their time. You made appointments into very sensitive positions without respect for the Federal Character Act and when reminded, you claimed it mattered less.

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The DSS ordered the barricade of the Benue state House of Assembly under your watchful eyes and you did nothing. When it graduated to the National Assembly in your absence and your deputy acted promptly; you quickly returned and the next thing we saw was the removal of Mattew Seiyefa as acting boss for DSS.

Before then, the security of the respected Red Chambers of the National Assembly was breached in the Sen. Omo-agege case and you did nothing to the IGP. You once blamed the system as responsible for the slow progress of your version of the anti-corruption war but we saw how powerless the same system was when you hurriedly shoved aside the CJN Walter Onnoghen.

Now, the unthinkable has happened. INEC has postponed the elections. Really, the reasons for that action is not my concern rather I am troubled that the same manner in which you have related with your citizens since you came on board as president is the same callous and indifferent manner that INEC has done this. They did not care about those who have made sacrifices by way of traveling to vote just the same way you cared less about it.

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Mr. President, to be honest with you; your country men and women are not concerned about all those achievements and pictures of achievement you displayed on both the print and electronic media. Hence, the deciding factor for whether they will vote you again or vote you out depended less on those. DO NOT BE DECEIVED MR. PRESIDENT, your attitude/manners is the prime reasons why Nigerians are poised to vote you out.

If you ask me, I think you should prepare yourself to retire to Daura from now. Don’t bother to improve yourself – it’s not necessary – just continue in that holier-than-thou manners of yours; I guarantee that you’ll soon be dying to have a life-coach in your personal employ. I thought that you’d learn from Goodluck Jonathan’s experience and do better but no; you thought that Nigerians are so dumb that you could abuse them as you liked.

Goodluck Jonathan was a gentleman by every means of it but his posture on the removal of the fuel subsidy in 2012 as well as the shabby strategies he had to tackle the Boko Haram war; sealed his fate as one who did not understand the people he governed. A few months ago, the governor of Borno state – Gov. Kashim Shettima – came to see you in the villa and was in tears.

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He said something prophetic that I now believe you did not pay attention to. He said that when you came to power in 2015, the people of Borno and indeed the Northeast saw it as a sign from god but 3 ½ years after, they are in doubt as to what has gone wrong. According to him, they are more ravaged by the Boko Haram and especially by the corruption that is the order of the day in the several IDPs than they had ever been before.

Governor Kashim Shettima has echoed the minds of ordinary Nigerians who unfortunately may not have the opportunity to either write you or meet you in person. You are asking for the votes of Nigerians from Benue, Plateau, Southern Kaduna, Taraba and Adamawa. How did you show love to them when the Miyetti Allah challenged constituted governments? Mr. President; THIS ELECTION IS NOT ABOUT ACHIEVEMENT BUT ABOUT THE MAN THAT CAN CONNECT WITH THE PEOPLE. I am sorry to say this.   

Comrade Ifeanyichukwu Mmoh is an advocate for attitudinal change, a researcher and authored (THE ORIGIN OF IGBO MARGINALIZATION IN NIGERIA). 08062577718.

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