*Vows not to detract from constitutional term limits
*Statement recycled tweet, he says
By Ignatius Okorocha
Disturbed trending insinuation in a section of the media that he is advocating for tenure elongation for President Muhammadu Buhari, the President of Senate, Ahmad Lawan, has vehemently debunked such allegation as false.
A statement by his Special Adviser (Media), Mr. Ola Awoniyi, the Office of the Senate President “has noted a tweet by one Cmrd. Mayor, attributing a fabricated statement to the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan”.
According to Awoniyi:”In the mischievous tweet, the Senate President was quoted as saying he “won’t mind a constitutional amendment to allow unlimited term of office for the president if President Buhari wishes to remain in office beyond 2023.”
He explained that: “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 the social media, it becomes necessary to issue a formal rebuttal 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.”
Awoniyi stated that the constitution firmly stated the tenure of the president that reflects the popular stand of Nigerians.
According to him, “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.
“It bears recalling that Lawan 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.
“The National Assembly acted then in obedience to the overwhelmingly popular desire of Nigerians.”
Awoniyi further stated that his principal could not have engaged in such frivolities, saying,” 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.”
He appealed to members of the public to ignore the old fabricated statement mischievously attributed to the Senate President that is now being circulated by mischief makers.
