Efforts are reportedly been made by some powerful hands to derail the second term ambition of President Muhammadu Buhari.
President Muhammadu Buhari
A plot to stop President Muhammadu Buhari from seeking re-election
on account of age and other excuses has been uncovered, The Nation
learnt yesterday.
Some senior lawyers have been engaged “to embarrass the
President” ahead of next year’s election, a source in the Presidency
said, pleading not to be named because he is not allowed to talk on the
matter.
The Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) plan to file many cases to
compel Buhari to step aside, having attained more than 70 years age
limit for certain public offices.
The plot is said to have the support of some leaders of opposition groups and “those hell-bent on halting Buhari’s presidential ambition”.
A source said: “The lawyers include Senior Advocates who are
now raising funds from some prominent Nigerians, who have openly
expressed their opposition to President Buhari’s second term ambition.
“While the position of the Constitution does not disqualify
anyone on the basis of age as the senior lawyers are planning, the whole
point of the case is to embarrass the president as the election draw
near.
“Funds are being raised from some opposition groups’ leaders
and individuals to go to court and argue that the President ought to be
disqualified on age basis.”
The plan, a source said, is to argue that because certain public
officers, including judges, have to retire at age 70, no one above that
age should be allowed to contest.
But while some lawyers are ready for the brief, others have opposed the plot.
The source added: “Already, some of those approached are read
to support the cases financially and now the lead senior lawyers are
mobilising several other lawyers to file series of legal suits and cases
to argue on why the President should be disqualified from running.”
“But there are also a number of some of those approached who
are concerned that the plot by a few of the senior lawyers is not likely
to be effective and might only be a ploy by the senior lawyers to raise
money for themselves.”
A source in government said: “We have unearthed a big plot to initiate frivolous suits to frustrate the President from realizing his second term ambition.
“We are also monitoring those behind this plot, which borders
on ‘ambition’ to make money. They have made some of those opposed to the
President to believe that Buhari can be stopped in court.
“But let them go and read sections 130, 131, and 137 of the
1999 Constitution very well. They cannot disqualify Buhari on account of
age. They want the court to interpret some parts of the constitution
and apply it to Buhari.”
Sections 130 and 131 read: “There shall be for the Federation a
President. The President shall be the Head of State, the Chief
Executive of the Federation and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces
of the Federation.
“A person shall be qualified for election to the office of
President if; he is a citizen of Nigeria by birth; he has attained the
age of 40 years; he is a member of a political party and is sponsored by
that political party and he has been educated up to at least School
Certificate level or its equivalent.”
Section 137 (1), among others, says: “A person shall not be qualified for election to the office of the President if-
(a) subject to the provisions of Section 28 of
this Constitution, he has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of a
country other than Nigeria or, except in such cases as may be prescribed
by the National Assembly, he has made acceleration of allegiance to
such other country; or
(b) he has been elected to such office at any two previous elections; or
(c) under the law in any part of Nigeria, he is adjudged to be a lunatic or otherwise declared to be of unsound mind.
(d) he is under a sentence of death imposed by any
competent court of law or tribunal in Nigeria or a sentence of
imprisonment or fine for any offence involving dishonesty or fraud(by
whatever name called) or for any other offence, imposed on him by any
court or tribunal or substituted by a competent authority for any other
sentence imposed on him by such a court or tribunal
(e) within a period of less than 10 years before
the date of election to the office of President, he has been convicted
and sentenced for an offence involving dishonesty or he has been found
guilty of the contravention of the Code of Conduct …
… (I) he has presented a forged certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
No comments:
Post a Comment