Signs are emerging that the All Progressives Congress (APC) are not comfortable with the 28th May handover date proposed by the out-going administration of President Goodluck Jonathan.
Insider reports said the proposed date, as announced by Minister of Information, Senator Patricia Akwashiki, is regarded by the APC as a plot laced with ill motives.
Akwashiki announced that the hand over ceremony will not be on the usual 29th May but will be held a day earlier after Wednesday’s Federal Executive Council meeting.
“By May 28, the President intends to have the formal handover done at a dinner so that we can reserve 29th May for the incoming government,” the minister had told journalists.
Akwashiki had also after the Council meeting said the President had directed all Ministries, Departments and Agencies to prepare their handover notes and submit them to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Pius Anyim, on or before Monday.
According to her, it is the Secretary’s responsibility to compile the notes, which will form Jonathan’s handover document.
“You know 29th May is our Democracy Day. So, we have activities lined up all through that week, showcasing all what we have achieved and all other things we do normally on our Democracy Day except that this year is special with the inauguration of our new President that is coming up on 29th May,” she said.
She added that the valedictory Council meeting would hold on 20th May, adding that everything that required the President’s approval must have been presented to him by 13th May.
Reacting to the one-day forward shift, one high ranking member of APC who spoke anonymously described the proposition as simply not acceptable.
“We are rejecting it, it is a trap,” the insider said.
He explained that from a security point of view, it could be considered a trap.
He explained further that power abhors a vacuum as such, the constitution does not envisage a situation where Nigeria will be without a sitting President even for one hour.
The insider querried that if Jonathan hands over on the 28th, who accounts for the hours before the morning of the 29th when the Chief Justice of the Federation is to administer the oath of office and the oath of allegiance?
He pointed out that there may be a sinister motive to this whole proposition.
“As the President of the nation; who will still be the Chief Security officer until he hands over, there is no excuse that is strong enough to excuse him from the event,” he said.
Rotimi Fashakin, a member of the Buhari campaign team also described the proposition as illogical.
He urged Nigerians not to relent on their demand for change until liberation is totally achieved.
Fashakin said, the proposed handover date that deviates from the tradition portends ill for the political destiny of this nation.
Arguing further, Fasakin said if the incumbent president hands over on the 28th to the incoming, it automatically creates a vacuum because the president elect does not beging acting untill the next day.
“GMB does not start to act on that date, if you get what I mean. Handing over to GMB on that date is not only meaningless, it is stupid. It has no meaning in law, or reality. It means that for 24 hours before GMB takes over there will be a vacuum,” Fasakin said.
He further argued that on the side of morality, Nigeria borrowed its constitution substantially from the American Constitution, and as such, it should learn a thing or two about how it operates.
Fasaking pointed out that there was never a time in recorded history where an outgoing American President, who is hale and hearty, will absent himself from the handover ceremony of his successor no matter their political differences.
Although, it is not yet clear how the Buhari team would handle “this threat,” it was learnt that the party’s legal team is being put on the alert.
There are also insider reports that the matter of ministerial appointment has been on suspension in the APC camp.
He revealed that because of the meticulous nature of Buhari.
Reacting to inquiries about the ministerial nomination issue, the APC National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the matter would only be discussed after due consultation.
