Buhari rules out a third term
Publish date: 07 October 2019
Issue Number: 844
Diary: IBA Legalbrief Africa
Category: Nigeria
President Muhammadu Buhari will not 'under any circumstance' seek a third term in office. His spokesperson, Garba Shehu, reacting to ‘Internet-based gossip and un-informed media commentary’, said Buhari ‘will not be a candidate in the 2023 Presidential election upon the completion of his second term’. The Premium Times reports that Nigerian law only allows a maximum two terms of four years each for Presidents, Vice Presidents, Governors and Deputy Governors. Attempts to amend the Constitution to allow for a third term for former President Olusegun Obasanjo failed.
The Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal filed by the Hope Democratic Party’s Presidential candidate Ambrose Owuru who was seeking the nullification of Buhari's re-election. The five-member Supreme Court panel, led by Justice Mary Odili, rejected the appeal on the grounds that Owuru and his party filed two notices of appeal on one matter which is contrary to the provisions of the law. The Premium Times reports that the court described this an abuse of the judicial processes. The three respondents in the appeal were Buhari, the Independent National Electoral Commission, and the All Progressive Congress.
