Second republic lawmaker, Junaid Muhammed said, there was nothing wrong with credible Nigerians like Tinubu to have ambition for the highest political office in Nigeria. He added that, there is nothing criminal about it because by the provisions of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, such has nothing to do with zoning or no zoning.
According to him, ‘’As far as I am concerned, there is nothing bad about it. Tinubu’s ambition has been open for over a decade. So what he’s saying now is not new about his political activities and there is nothing criminal about it. And I think Tinubu is credible. At least, he has a party whether the party will survive or he will float another party that is what I don’t know and I don’t speak for him.”
He vehemently opposed zoning arrangement, which has now become the talking point of political actors in the country asking “If the late President Umar Yar’Adua could spend less than four years, what arrangement is there on ground that it is a must for anybody to spend eight years?”
“The constitution of Nigeria is the supreme law of the land. That constitution did not provide zoning or rotation. The constitution provides that, in the event of a sitting President being dead, incapacitated or in any way infirm, and such a person is unable to perform the duty of his office, provision has been made on how to deal with that situation by the National Assembly.
“There is concern now that we have a President who is sick out of the country. The constitution has provided for transfer of power from the sitting President to his deputy to act as President. That is happening now.
‘’Beyond that, I think it will just be mischief or opportunism to comment on the issue because we have not tried the system provided for in the constitution. It is only when we try and it fails then we can start speculating.
“But at the moment, there is system in place and it seems to be working. There is acting President for the country while the sick President is trying to recover. So saying that whoever is there must be there for eight years is non-issue because there is no provision for that in the constitution”, he added.
According to him, ‘’As far as I am concerned, there is nothing bad about it. Tinubu’s ambition has been open for over a decade. So what he’s saying now is not new about his political activities and there is nothing criminal about it. And I think Tinubu is credible. At least, he has a party whether the party will survive or he will float another party that is what I don’t know and I don’t speak for him.”
He vehemently opposed zoning arrangement, which has now become the talking point of political actors in the country asking “If the late President Umar Yar’Adua could spend less than four years, what arrangement is there on ground that it is a must for anybody to spend eight years?”
“The constitution of Nigeria is the supreme law of the land. That constitution did not provide zoning or rotation. The constitution provides that, in the event of a sitting President being dead, incapacitated or in any way infirm, and such a person is unable to perform the duty of his office, provision has been made on how to deal with that situation by the National Assembly.
“There is concern now that we have a President who is sick out of the country. The constitution has provided for transfer of power from the sitting President to his deputy to act as President. That is happening now.
‘’Beyond that, I think it will just be mischief or opportunism to comment on the issue because we have not tried the system provided for in the constitution. It is only when we try and it fails then we can start speculating.
“But at the moment, there is system in place and it seems to be working. There is acting President for the country while the sick President is trying to recover. So saying that whoever is there must be there for eight years is non-issue because there is no provision for that in the constitution”, he added.
