By Samuel Aruwan
A United Kingdom-based journal, African Confidential, at the weekend tipped President of the Senate, David Mark, to head what it called ‘transitional national government’ should there be stalemate arising from the insecurity situation.
A Nigeria-based online newspaper, The Cable, quoted the report posted on the publication’s website.
The report said: “Should President Goodluck Jonathan stumble, jump or be pushed, a groundswell is building for some form of transitional government to tackle both the security crisis and the flagging morale of the military.”
The report added that the publication did not say where the “groundswell” was building, in the military or political class, but made references to “ominous rumblings in the military,” while an Aso Rock insider dismissed the report as “absolute nonsense.”
The publication described the “David Mark scenario” as one of the “messier options” before Nigeria, saying that unnamed politicians “in Abuja think that Jonathan won’t win the PDP presidential nomination for next year’s elections, while others say he won’t even manage to hold on to power until the vote.”
The publication was ambiguous on many issues, especially how a transitional government will legitimately emerge given the constitutional processes involved in democratic transfer of power in Nigeria.
A senior presidency official, who declined to be named, described the report as “kite flying” and an attempt to sell “a warped agenda” to the international community.
“The premises are faulty and the conclusion is absolute nonsense,” he told The Cable.
“There is no space for transitional government in our constitution. Even if the president decides not to run, there are other members of the PDP who can run. The conclusion that David Mark will end a transitional government is ridiculous.”
Africa Confidential prides itself as a specialist publication with “continent-wide, on-the-ground coverage” which enables it to identify and monitor upcoming issues “long before they are picked up by the general media and analyse their real significance for our readers.”