A
abujagirl
Guest
In an interview with Sunday Vanguard, Professor Awwal Yadudu, legal adviser to the late Head of State, General Sani Abacha declared President Goodluck Jonathan unqualified to seek re-election in 2015.
Yadudu said the Presidents re-election bid was illegal both on legal and political grounds, "If you read the 1999 Constitution carefully, it speaks about disqualification. It says a person shall be disqualified to hold office of governor or president if the person is elected twice to that office. A lot of people don’t quite know that the section says you cannot be eligible for the office of the president if you have contested twice. The same provision applies to the vice president meaning that a candidate is ineligible to contest if he has contested twice. The same qualification applies to the vice president. That means that Jonathan was elected with Yar’ Adua in 2007.
"The vice president is part of the office of the president. By my understanding of that provision, President Jonathan is disqualified because when he stepped into the shoes of Yar’ Adua upon his death, he was not only completing a term, he was also part of the office of the president. The second aspect of the argument is the Constitution which says if you have taken oath of office twice. Jonathan has taken oath of office twice.
"He took it when President Yar’ Adua died as a successor and took it when he was elected as president. There is no argument about the fact that he has taken oath of office twice, he can’t take it thrice. By the way, a lower court has ruled in the president’s favour and it has gone to the Court of Appeal and I can assure you the matter will end up at the Supreme Court and it will not be helpful to his situation, Yaduda concluded.
So far, Yaduda is the first to cite legal reasons on why the President cannot seek re-election, other politicians opposed to the President's re-election have used a 'ghost' one-term agreement as their reason.
Yadudu said the Presidents re-election bid was illegal both on legal and political grounds, "If you read the 1999 Constitution carefully, it speaks about disqualification. It says a person shall be disqualified to hold office of governor or president if the person is elected twice to that office. A lot of people don’t quite know that the section says you cannot be eligible for the office of the president if you have contested twice. The same provision applies to the vice president meaning that a candidate is ineligible to contest if he has contested twice. The same qualification applies to the vice president. That means that Jonathan was elected with Yar’ Adua in 2007.
"The vice president is part of the office of the president. By my understanding of that provision, President Jonathan is disqualified because when he stepped into the shoes of Yar’ Adua upon his death, he was not only completing a term, he was also part of the office of the president. The second aspect of the argument is the Constitution which says if you have taken oath of office twice. Jonathan has taken oath of office twice.
"He took it when President Yar’ Adua died as a successor and took it when he was elected as president. There is no argument about the fact that he has taken oath of office twice, he can’t take it thrice. By the way, a lower court has ruled in the president’s favour and it has gone to the Court of Appeal and I can assure you the matter will end up at the Supreme Court and it will not be helpful to his situation, Yaduda concluded.
So far, Yaduda is the first to cite legal reasons on why the President cannot seek re-election, other politicians opposed to the President's re-election have used a 'ghost' one-term agreement as their reason.
