President Jonathan, yesterday in Abuja mentioned that it was treasonable for anybody to insinuate the possibility of an interim government, stating that it was also unconstitutional.
Mr. Jonathan, during a goodwill message at the opening of the Plenary Assembly of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), mentioned that he was fully convinced that Nigeria would remain stable.
The president further said at the risk of being accused of campaigning in a church, that he must clarify the rumoured issue of interim government.
“Interim government is not in the Nigerian constitution, as a nation, we don’t have a constitutional court, we only have a Supreme Court; I solely don’t have powers to redefine our constitution.
“There is no way i, who was elected into power by the people with a clear mandate will now go and head an interim government without a mandate.
“The only accepted interim government that anybody can contemplate is a military government which of course will not be allowed.
“ECOWAS will not accept this, that was why we forced Burkina Faso to take the decision they took; AU also will not accept it, the UN also will not accept it and Nigerians definitely will not in this present generation accept it.
“So any insinuation about interim government is treasonable and people should stop talking about it.
“Upcoming elections will be conducted as scheduled by INEC,” he said.
Pres. Jonathan noted that the country has had its unfair share of insecurity which also led to the postponement of the election but there was no going back on the new dates.
Pres. Jonathan, who expressed concern over some media reports, especially on the social media, stressed that the nation must remain stable.
“The kind of news we read in the media especially in the social media, sometimes you begin to get concerned; is Nigeria going up in flames?
“But I am fully convinced that this country will continue to be stable,” he said.
Pres. Jonathan said the elections were shifted due to issues of insecurity and reaffirmed his commitment to the new dates.
On the recent attack on Gombe State on Feb. 14, the earlier date of the election, Pres. Jonathan expressed worry that the election could have been disrupted had it held on the day.
He, however, gave his assurance that before the new dates fixed for the elections, insecurity would have been stemmed to allow for a peaceful, free, fair and undisrupted exercise.
“Maybe if INEC had gone ahead to conduct the elections, we would have had a major crisis in the North-East.
“It is best for us to conduct elections that are free and fair; elections that are credible, elections that will be un-interrupted and there will be no crisis.
“I am happy with what is happening in the North-East now; I am convinced that before March 28, Nigeria will be in a position that no criminal element will disrupt our elections.
“He said he will not in any way because of his personal interest, do anything that will jeopardise the interest of our nation as a whole; Nigeria is bigger than any individual.
“There is no position that is more important than the unity of this country,” he said.
He further expressed gratitude to Catholics, all Christians and other religious groups for their fervent prayers for Nigeria.
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