Confab delegates reject tenure extension for Jonathan

Former Chief Justice of Nigeria and chairman of the conference, retired Justice Idris Kutigi
Delegates attending the National Conference have said they will not extend the tenure of President Goodluck Jonathan and other elected government officials.

A member of the conference from South-South Chief Okon Osung, who is making the proposal, had on Friday said he had already distributed the proposal to some delegates, including all the 24-members in the Public Finance Committee, headed by a former Governor of Kebbi State, Senator Adamu Aliero.

The delegate insisted that the proposal for postponing the 2015 elections for 18 months was to take the “wind out of the sail of coup enthusiasts and proponents, and thereby deny them the excuse of plotting coups.

“The inbuilt mechanism inherent in democracy should be allowed to operate so that coup plotters will be deprived of the opportunity of arguing that African leaders lack the capacity for institution-building.”

He denied the insinuation that he, being a member of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party from the South-South, was speaking the minds of others like him, that President Jonathan was afraid of losing the election.

But some delegates said the call was uncalled for and that it must be disregarded by their colleagues.

One of them, Chief Paul Enebeli, who was a former President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, said there was no need for the call and that it was not part of the mandate given to them by President Jonathan.

He said, “There is no need for any tenure elongation. It is not part of our mandate and it is a thing we should not dabble into.

-punch