Osinbajo cannot replace Buhari in 2019 if president dies – Northern Elders

Chairman of Northern Elders Forum, Professor Ango Abdullahi, has maintained that should President Muhammadu Buhari’s failing health prevents him from seeking re-election in 2019, the North must retain the presidency.

Abdullahi stressed that the region must be allowed to field a presidential candidate through the All Progressives Congress, APC, in 2019 should Buhari fail to seek re-election.

The don said in the situation of any eventuality, the Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo should be allowed to complete the current tenure but will not be allowed to contest in 2019.

Speaking with New Telegraph, Abdullahi said, “The constitutional provision says that in the event that the president dies in office or becomes incapacitated for one reason or the other and cannot perform the duties of his office, he will be succeeded by the Vice president.

“But no one is in a position to know at what point he is going to recover fully and come back to office, or whether the unexpected could happen.The northern elders insist that Osinbajo cannot replace Buhari in 2019

“If the worst case scenario happens, and Buhari is not back on seat, the constitution is very clear that the vice president takes over.

“And what we then expect is that he will take that tenure to its logical end and from there, the politics of power sharing will take precedence over anything else.

“When the unexpected happens, in 2019 we will be back to our position that the north should be treated equitably and fairly.

“And we expect that another northern candidate will emerge as presidential candidate on the platform of APC.”