The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister for Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke (SAN), has dismissed calls for the establishment of an interim government to conduct the 2015 general election.
In a statement he issued in Abuja on Thursday, Adoke said that the 1999 Constitution does not make any provision for the constitution of an interim government. He said: “For avoidance of doubt, it is pertinent to state that the framers of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 did not envisage the constitution of Interim National Government to superintend over the affairs of government. “It is therefore not surprising to observe that no provision for Interim National Government was made in the constitution.”
He stated that the contraption called “Interim National Government” was alien to Nigeria’s constitutional framework and the arrangement should not be promoted by well-meaning Nigerians under any guise or circumstance.
He urged Nigerians to continue to rely on the constitution, which he said contained adequate provisions on how the democratic process could be activated to elect their leaders from time to time.
The statement read: “My attention has been drawn to recent calls in the media by some Nigerians for the constitution of an Interim National Government to ostensibly mid-wife the 2015 general election to usher in a new democratic government. “While I recognize and appreciate the inalienable rights of Nigerians to freely express themselves and proffer solutions to perceived national challenges, I am deeply concerned that some undiscerning Nigerians are being unwittingly led to believe that a certain prescription, which is totally alien to the constitution, can be adopted as viable solution to our national challenges.
“It has therefore become necessary to correct this misconception and refocus the citizenry on the path of constitutionalism and democratic tenets consistent with our quest for democratic consolidation in Nigeria.”
