There won’t be interim govt, says Abdulsalami

FORMER Head of State,  General Abdulsalami Abubakar has urged Nigerians to ignore all the rumours about  plans by the present administration to institute an interim government,  saying there is no such provision in the 1999 Constitution.

 He also told Nigerians not to be worried about purported plans to again postpone the general elections which have been rescheduled for 28March and April 11, 2015 urging them to    rather focus their minds on exercising their franchise come March 28 and April 11 respectively.

 Briefing journalists after the meeting of the National Peace Committee for the 2015 General Elections Thursday evening in Abuja, Abdusalami noted that President Goodluck  Jonathan has affirmed that elections will hold on March 28 and April 11 and that there is nothing like Interim Govvernment.

He said :” Lots of rumours have been going on about  another plan to postpone the elections and  the issue of Interim Government . 

 President Jonathan has affirmed that elections will hold on March 28 and April 11 and that there is nothing like Interim Government. Also, the Attorney General of the Federation  has confirmed that the issue of Interim Government is not recognised by the  constitution. Nigerians should ignore the rumours and focus on exercising their rights”.

 The former Head of State who strongly condemned the violence in Okrika, Rivers state during the governorship rally by the All Progressives Congress (APC) called on Nigerian youths to eschew violence.

 He said: “We are worried about the violence in Okrika and we are going to follow up to find out from the security agencies what they intend to do to prevent future occurrence. 

 Nigerians should realise that the leaders will not be with all their supporters even though they have signed an accord. 

 It is we , the Nigerians that would help them in achieving the objectives of the accord by eschewing violence.”

On whether the committee has confidence that the elections will hold on the rescheduled dates even after the Chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) had said that everything now lies on the security agencies, Abdusalami said, “Every Nigerian has a role to play to ensure that the elections hold as scheduled. The authority and INEC said the elections will hold, let us believe them.

The youths should listen to the words of elders and their leaders and never allow themselves to be used as tools for electoral violence. We appeal to parents to admonish  their children to desist from violent acts. The political parties should tell their supporters to be law-abiding and ensure there is peace in the country.”

 On the controversies surrounding the use of Card Reader Machines for the election and the distribution of the Permanent Voters Cards, the elder statesman said: “We are going to engage INEC to find out where they are on the distribution  of PVCs and the Card Reader Machines for the elections.”