Nwabueze: No Constitutional Provision for Tenure Elongation
Shola Oyeyipo The insinuations in certain quarters that the rescheduled elections may not eventually hold have been described as impracticable and inapplicable in the context of the provisions of the Nigerian constitution, since the nation is not at war.
Making the assertion yesterday at a press conference addressed on behalf of Project Nigeria Movement (PNM), a coalition of reputable civil society groups, at the late FRA Williams chambers, Ilupeju Lagos, legal luminary and elder statesman, Prof. Ben Nwabueze, said since Nigeria is not in a war, there is no constitutional basis for such action.
“We are concerned about the idea being taunted by commentators that elections might not be practicable by March 28 and April 11 or some other constitutionally authorized time schedule, and that the executive and legislative tenures should be extended beyond four years in accordance with the provisions in sections 64(2), 135(3), 105(2) and 180 (3).
“Those provisions are clearly not applicable, and it will be unconstitutional to invoke them, by reason of the Boko Haram insurgency in the four North-east states,” Nwabueze stated.
According to him, “The term ‘war’, in the legal sense in which it is used in the provisions above, means war with another country. The decided authorities established that a country cannot legally be at war with itself. Civil war is not war in the legal sense or in the sense in which the term war is used in the provisions mentioned above.”
The revered constitutional lawyer said whoever was making reference to those sections of the Nigerian constitution, must also look at section 5(4)(a), “which provides that the president shall not declare war between the federation and another country except with the sanction of a resolution of both Houses of the National Assembly sitting in a joint session.”
The body, which also noted that the rescheduled elections confront the Nigerian people with the perplexing task of choosing between the two prominent contestants; President Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party and General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), enjoined the people to elect any of the presidential candidate they know would best protect them.
“The choice between the two contestants challenges Nigerians to demonstrate their capacity as sovereign people, to make a wise, well-informed and intelligent choice, taking into account the overall national interest, as set out below, the contestants manifestoes, antecedents, character and how adequately equipped they are intellectually, educationally and in terms of other credentials and qualities to provide effective presidential leadership, as a condition of good governance, the lack of which is a major part of our national malaise,” he said.
Nwabueze, however, regretted the fault lines of divisions along religious and ethnic leanings, urging Nigerians to stand by the fact that the constitution of the country provides that people have different religious beliefs.
He also advised that before the elections are conducted, the duo of Jonathan and Buhari should publicly affirm their commitment to the implementation of the decisions of the National Conference.
“Whilst President Jonathan had shown a singular courage, which his predecessors could not muster, in conveying and inaugurating a National Conference, and deserves to be applauded for it, there remains, however, the issue of the implementation of the decisions of the conference, which can only be fully accomplished, not by the amendment to the 1999 Constitution, but through a new constitution adopted and approved by the people in a referendum,” Nwabueze stated.
He said President Jonathan must, likewise, Buhari, make an equivocal public statement avowing his commitment, if re-elected, to implement the decisions of the National Conference.
While not arguing whether or not the postponement of the elections by six weeks is justifiable, Nwabueze said the shift in the date of the election is a blessing to the country because it has allowed the tension building up around the election calm down because the Independent National Election Commission (INEC) is relatively better prepared for the elections.