By Toheeb Omotayo
Members of the House of Representatives have condemned the alleged moves by unnamed groups or persons to install an interim government in the country as opposed to the inauguration of a democratically-elected government on May 29.
Lawmakers, while debating a motion of urgent national importance in Abuja on Tuesday (Today), also appealed to parties not satisfied with the outcomes of the 2023 general elections, to patiently allow the judicial process to take its full course.
The plenary was presided over by the Deputy Speaker, Rep. Ahmed Idris Wase.
They urged security agencies, particularly the Department of State Services, to be on alert and forestall any plans to wreak havoc or mayhem in the country.
A member from Akwa Ibom State, Rep. Unyime Idem, who moved the motion, held the view that the interim government was “unknown to democracy and the laws.”
He classified the move as unworthy of support, especially given that Nigeria’s democracy is still pretty a young one. He emphasized that the judiciary is the only organ of Government empowered by law to adjudicate on post-election matters.”
Another member from Lagos State, Rep. Jimoh Ibrahim, stated that it’s satanic and devilish for anybody to have thought about an interim government.
He said, “How can someone say they don’t want the elected representatives to be inaugurated?”
Another member, Rep. Ademorin Kuye, also from Lagos State, said the DSS’s advisories should not be taken lightly.
Kuye, who argued that there were existential threats to democracy in Nigeria, referred to the letter former President Olusegun Obasanjo wrote to President Muhammadu Buhari, advising him to cancel the elections, as one example.
Kuye recalled that even in the US, there had been such threats to derail democracy when former President Donald Trump reportedly “sponsored” demonstrators to go to the Capitol and attack legislators.
“We shouldn’t wait until something happens before we begin to take necessary actions”, he added
Speaking in the same line, a member from Katsina State, Rep. Sada Soli Jibia, commended the mover of the motion.
Kuye said, the motion is timely, and the DSS merely performed its statutory function by giving Nigerians and the government ‘heads-on’, issuing warnings and advisories.
“Who will swear in an interim government? Who will protect it, the police or the military?
We should look at this motion with a sense of responsibility and love for this nation.”
However, two members, Rep. Sergius Ose-Ogun, from Edo State, and Rep. Ossai Nicholas Ossai, from Delta State, urged the House to throw out the motion.
Meanwhile, the motion has been passed by the House at the plenary.
