Members of the House of Representatives have opposed the alleged moves by unnamed groups or persons to install an interim government in the country.
They roundly condemned calls for an interim government as opposed to the inauguration of a democratically-elected government on May 29.
Lawmakers urged security agencies, particularly the Department of State Services, to be on alert and forestall any plans to cause chaos or mayhem in the country.
Lawmakers, while debating a motion of urgent national importance in Abuja on Tuesday, 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.
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 our laws.”
He noted, “It is not something that we should support, especially given that our democracy is a young one.
“The judiciary is the only organ empowered by law to adjudicate on post-election matters.”
A member from Lagos State, Rep. Jimoh Ibrahim, stated that “it’s satanic and devilish for anybody to have thought about an interim government.”
He went on, “How can someone say they don’t want the elected representatives to be inaugurated?”
Rep. Ademorin Kuye, also from Lagos State, shared his views by saying that 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.
He 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.”
Rep. Julius Ihonvbere, who is from Edo State, also supported the motion, saying that “we have a responsibility to defend our democracy.”
He also commended the DSS for coming out with advisories and alerting the federal government and Nigerians.
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.
“How can you wake up and tell us that some people want to derail democracy, yet you have not arrested or named the suspects?”, Ose-Ogun asked.
Ossai, who said the action of the DSS was “speculative”, argued that what the agency was expected to do was to name those it claimed were calling for an interim government.
“Does it mean that the DSS is speculative? The DSS chief can’t name or arrest anyone?
“As a legislature, we can’t discuss speculation or rumours”, Ossai insisted.
He suggested that the DSS be invited to brief the relevant committee of the House on its findings, but his views were drowned out by the voices of his colleagues, who backed the motion.
The House passed the motion. The plenary was presided over by the Deputy Speaker, Rep. Ahmed Idris Wase.
