‘ When A VP Complete’s President’s Tenure, He’s Barred From Re-contesting’: Buhari Signs Bill
The Oasis Reporters
June 9, 2018
He has come back fitter and much stronger.
Lucky Goodluck Jonathan.
If President Yar’adua’ had signed the kind of bill that President Muhammadu Buhari just signed into law last Friday, he would have retired to Otuoke in 2015 without another shot at the presidency.
When a section of the South West went agog, gushing over Buhari in 2015 as the sent messiah to rescue Nigeria from the abyss the ‘corrupt, drunken, ineffectual buffoon’ fisherman Jonathan placed it, Buhari was not fooled. He knew he was a messiah with clay feet only and all that adulation was for a selfish purpose.
He signed a checkmate bill into law.
President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday signed into law, a bill that stops a Vice President who completes the tenure of a President from re-contesting for the office of the President more than once.
This was a manageable compromise until 2019.
Also, a deputy governor who succeeds a governor can no longer contest for that office more than once after the initial tenure.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Ita Enang, disclosed this to journalists at the State House, Abuja on Friday.
Enang explained that with the new law (Act 16), persons who have taken the oath of President or governor once can only contest one more time afterwards.
Furthermore, as part of the amendments made to the Constitution, the President granted financial autonomy to state judiciaries and Houses of Assembly.
Another of the four bills that were passed provides the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), sufficient time to conduct bye-elections, increasing the time from seven to 21 days, which widens the scope of the electoral body to handle election matters upon a vacancy.
Meanwhile, the fourth Act reduces the date and time of determining pre-election matters to ensure that the matters do not extend into the time for elections neither will they pend thereafter.
These four bills in addition to the recently passed “Not Too Young To Run Bill”, brings the total number of bills assented to by the president, to five.
Therefore acting presidency may not look as sweet as some persons might want to make. And stabbing a neighbouring region in the back for pecuniary gains may not look too alluring after all. Four years is not long enough to forget stabs in the back.
Pundits are watching out for the next move in this political draughtsmanship post 2019 election should Buhari perhaps win the next presidential election.
