Jonathan: I Will Hand Over Power On May 28 To Buhari

President Goodluck Jonathan has decided to hand over power to General Muhammadu Buhari, on May 28, a day before the official inauguration of the incoming government.

Jonathan took this decision at the Federal Executive Council meeting in Abuja, Information Minister Patricia Akwashiki told State House journalists.

With this development, some legal experts are divided over when the tenure of President Jonathan would officially end and when Buhari would take over.

While Professor Awwal Yadudu, said that President Jonathan’s tenure ends officially on May 28 midnight, Samuel Okutepa (SAN) said it would officially end by midnight of May 29 except he decides to resign before that time.

Yadudu said with the hand over by Abdulsalami Abubakar to Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999, the formality of swearing-in when Buhari would subscribe to the Oath of Office would take place on May 29.

“I remember General Abdulsalami handing over to Obasanjo. The tenure would end May 28 but General Buhari’s legal tenure would begin 29 May after the midnight of 28,” Yadudu said.

He mentioned that the constitutional requirement is that the regime cannot operate until the Oath of Office has been subscribed to.

But for Okutepa, Buhari’s tenure is expected to commence a second to May 30, adding that it would be okay if President Jonathan decides to hand over in the morning or afternoon of May 29 explaining that the tenure ends by 11:59pm.

But the minister stressed that the president would hand over the affairs of the country to Buhari at a dinner on the eve of the May 29 Democracy Day.

“By May 28, the president intends to have the formal handing over done at a dinner so that we can reserve the 29th for the incoming (government). By May 28, we expect to have concluded one-way governance and we are welcoming incoming government,” she said.