No plans for Interim Government, Jonathan tells Catholic Bishops

President Goodluck Jonathan has dismissed rumours of a plan to head an interim administration, stating that “insinuations about a plan for an interim government is tantamount to treason”. Speaking at the plenary for  members of the Catholic Bishops Conference in Abuja on Sunday, the President thanked Nigerians for showing understanding, when the date of the general elections was shifted.

According to him, the elections would have lacked credibility if they were conducted as scheduled on February 14 and 28. President Jonathan insisted that he would not jeopardise the peace and stability of Nigeria because of his personal interest. He assured the congregation that the nation would soon be stable as Nigerian soldiers were working very hard to regain territories in the North-East that were under the control of Boko Haram insurgents.

“There is no way Goodluck Jonathan, who was elected by the people, with the clear mandate, will now go and head an interim government without a mandate. So, the only interim government that anybody can contemplate is a military government, which of cause will not be accepted.

“ECOWAS in the first place, will not accept it and that is why we forced Burkina Faso to take the decision they took. AU will not accept it. The UN will not accept it and Nigeria cannot be a pariah state at this present generation.

“Any insinuation about an interim government, to me, is treasonable and people suppose not to talk about it.

“My conviction and very strongly too is that elections would be conducted, as scheduled by INEC,” the President said.

The host and Archbishop of Abuja, His Eminence, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, advised politicians to serve for the good of all, shunning hate campaigns and lies. Catholic Bishops from all over the country converged at Our Lady of Nigeria Cathedral in Abuja for begin this year's plenary with the theme “Family as the Fulcrum of Society and any Nation”