by ‘Jola Sotubo
The proposal to elongate the time in office of President Goodluck Jonathan and other government officials has been dealt a big blow after delegates at the ongoing National Conference rejected it.
The suggestion for the tenure extension is said to have been made by one Okon Osung, a delegate from the South-South who distributed the proposal to several of his colleagues.
Osung insisted that it was necessary to postpone the 2015 elections for 18 more months to “take the wind out of the sail of coup enthusiasts and proponents, and thereby deny them the excuse of plotting coups.”
He said:
“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.”
Osung maintained that he had no ulterior motive for suggesting the extension even as his colleagues accused him of furthering the interests the Peoples Democratic Party, of which he is a member.
The proposal has however received strong resistance from most of the delegates and as such it has been rejected
Paul Enebeli, a former President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria 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.
“That will bring more confusion into the country and I will ask my colleagues to please not dabble into it.”
Isaac Albert, also a delegate said:
“We are here to strengthen the country and not to further cause confusion. We should ignore the call, which I know is part of the personal agenda of some people,” he said.
The delegates have also called for caution in making suggestions that could affect the unity of Nigeria.
