It is commendable that some notable Nigerians and political parties have condemned in strong terms the alleged subterranean moves to impose an interim government on Nigerians at the expiration of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration on May 29, 2023. The present administration has not hidden its readiness and willingness to conduct free, fair and credible elections this year as well as hand over to an elected administration on May 29. To President Muhammadu Buhari and the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, the 2023 elections must hold and the May 29 hand over date is sacrosanct.
Earlier, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, had raised the alarm over alleged plans to put in place an interim government in the country and truncate the 2023 elections. He specifically mentioned the lingering fuel scarcity and confusion trailing the currency swap, as part of the moves to orchestrate chaos that would warrant the postponement of the polls. According to him, “they want to provoke you to violence, so that election will be disrupted and postponed, and they can cunningly introduce an interim government, that’s their plot.” The APC standard-bearer in the scheduled February 25 Presidential and National Assembly polls, who stated this during his campaign rally in Ekiti State recently, did not reveal those behind the unpatriotic idea.
We condemn any move to impose an interim administration on Nigerians at a time most Nigerians are hopeful of truly electing their desired and preferred leaders. Any attempt to impose the unpopular interim government, which some respected Nigerians had earlier called for, will be vehemently resisted. The federal government should discountenance such suggestions and go ahead with the forthcoming elections and ensure that the hand over date is sacrosanct.
We had gone through an interim government following the annulment of the June 12, 1993 polls and the stepping aside of the then military president, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida. Nigerians should not be made to witness such an aberration again. An interim government is undemocratic and against the spirit and letters of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution (as amended). It is cheering that all the political parties have rightly condemned the idea and have described those who may be plotting such an action as enemies of the country.
The leading opposition political party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has warned the ruling APC to perish the contemplation or discussion of such arrangement, arguing that it is unconstitutional and would not be acceptable to Nigerians. Similarly, the Labour Party (LP) has argued in that vein. For the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP), the very thought of such an agenda is an ambush against democracy and should be resisted. Even the APC has exonerated itself from such plans.
Therefore, on no account should any person or groups be allowed to come up with anything having to do with an interim government at this point in Nigeria’s democratic history. After about 24 years of uninterrupted democracy, Nigerians should be working towards deepening and entrenching the culture of democracy in the land. Democracy is a process that is nurtured by periodic elections. Nothing should be allowed to disrupt that process. So much has been invested in planning the 2023 elections in terms of human and material resources. All the relevant laws for the exercise have been put in place. Nigerians have also been expectant to fulfill their civic rights of electing their leaders and representatives. The preparations cannot be jettisoned for whatever considerations by any group. The elections must hold at the dates already fixed by the electoral agency.
It is laudable that INEC has ruled out insecurity as a factor to warrant cancelling or postponing the elections. Rather, the commission has given assurance of even putting up measures to conduct a runoff in the poll, should there be no clear winner in the February 25 presidential election or in other instances. The Federal Government, through the Minister for Information, has also promised that the elections will hold as scheduled. These are commendable and should be matched with actions.
The government and relevant agencies charged with the elections should not allow the proponents of interim government to have their way. Likely obstacles to the polls must be identified and dismantled. The fuel scarcity and the currency crunch need to be addressed to lessen the pains the citizens are going through. Continuous scarcity of the two items may have drastic impacts on the logistics for the election.
Truncating democracy in Nigeria will have far-reaching consequences both in the sub-region and in Africa. It will also affect Nigeria’s leadership role on the continent. Any thought in that direction now should be done away with. We urge those behind the idea of an interim government to desist from it. Apart from being diversionary, it will also halt the nation’s democratic development.