By Adesuwa Tsan
365Daily – The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, has described a statement which quoted him as saying he would not mind an amendment of the Constitution to allow for tenure extension for President Muhammadu Buhari as the handiwork of mischief makers and purveyors of fake news.
A statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media, Ola Awoniyi, on Tuesday, March 30, 2021, stressed that Lawan remained committed to the stipulated tenure limits in the Constitution.
Awoniyi said a certain Cmr Mayor fabricated statement a “mischievous tweet”, wherein the Senate President was quoted as saying he “won’t mind a constitutional ammendment to allow unlimited term of office for President if President Buhari wishes to remain in office beyond 2023.”
He continued, “Our initial reaction was to ignore the ignoble mischief especially since it is not new, having been posted two years ago on 27 March 2019.
“But because the tweet has been trending again on social media, it becomes necessary to issue a formal rebutal of its purport.
“We, therefore, say categorically that the Senate President has never made any such statement, before or after 2019.
“The old tweet which was entirely the handiwork of mischief makers is now being circulated again on social media by purveyors of fake news.
“The 1999 Constitution has a firm position on the tenure of the President that reflects the popular stand of Nigerians.
“Section 137(1)b states as follow: A person shall not be qualified for election to the office of President if (b) he has been elected to such Office at any two previous elections.
“The Senate President has never found anything wrong in that provision of the Constitution and has always stood firmly by it.”
Lawan’s media aide recalled that the Senate President was a member of the National Assembly when in 2006 it threw out an attempt to amend that section of the Constitution and elongate the tenure of the President “in obedience to the overwhemingly popular desire of Nigerians.”
He concluded that “It is therefore ludicrous to imagine that Lawan would ever be in the vanguard of any such misadventure that is again certain to fail if ever pursued again.
“The Senate President stands by the well-considered and roundly appreciated provision of the Constitution on the issue and will never subscribe to any move to amend it.
“We, therefore, enjoin members of the public to ignore the old fabricated statement mischieviously attributed to the Senate President and now being circulated by mischief makers.”
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