Osinbajo’s presidential powers: Between law and semantics

Two days after President Muhammadu Buhari left the country on his most recent medical vacation, the letter he wrote to the National Assembly transmitting presidential powers in his absence to the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, raised quite a stir.”.The bone of contention was the phrase “While I am away the Vice President will coordinate the […]

Two days after President Muhammadu Buhari left the country on his most recent medical vacation, the letter he wrote to the National Assembly transmitting presidential powers in his absence to the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, raised quite a stir.”.The bone of contention was the phrase “While I am away the Vice President will coordinate the activities of the government…”The apparent incongruity of the phrase when compared with previous letters attracted a question on the floor of the Senate by Senator Mao Ohuabunwa representing (Abia North) who queried that it was irregular. He was promptly countered by the Senate leade, Senator Ahmed Lawan before Senate President Bola Saraki sealed the matter when he overruled Mao and concurred with Ahmed that the expression was not significantly injurious to Osinbajo’s exercise of the transmitted presidential powers. 

 The debate was to spill into the wider society with views for and against the phrase swirling even as the issue was whether the semantic twist vitiated the constitutional guarantee for the exercise by the VP of the transmitted power. Put succinctly, was Osinbajo a ‘mere’ coordinator of government business or Acting President of the country in the absence of Buhari? By virtue of the special circumstances of Nigeria’s political terrain, both questions can easily attract answers in the affirmative. And that was why Senator Mao Ohuabunwa raised his question on the floor of the Senate, which seemed frivolous from a casual perspective, but with deeper insight remains most significant; that is if the sensitivities of the various sections of the Nigerian society are anything to go by.

 For those who like the Senate leader Lawan and President Saraki may not see any problem with the phrase, their comfort lies in the invocation of Section 145 of the Constitution (as amended), which supersedes any other expression of the presidential power transmission dispensation, be such in English, Hausa, Ibo or Yoruba; besides the other languages like Kalabari, which are by-passed only because they are spoken by minority groups in the country. In their contention, the letters and spirit of the law as contained in the Constitution are all that matter and therefore Osinbajo remains  Acting President on whose desk the buck stops. 

But for other Nigerians who appreciate the import of Ohuabunwa’s question the need exists to assuage the feelings of Nigerians when such borders on suspicion of manipulation of official processes by certain individuals that find themselves in positions of authority. The Nigerian public space is replete with instances where seemingly innocent public officials have simply twisted official protocol to hoodwink and thereby disadvantage fellow Nigerians, who languished in blind trust of the manipulators.

That is why not all Nigerians share the position that the buck actually stops on Osinbajo’s desk, without him referring some official matters to the powers beyond him, which in the mind of this school of thought, constitute potentates who often act even without the knowledge and approval of President Buhari. This disturbing dispensation has led to several insinuations that the corridors of Aso Villa are paraded by a complement of  official and non official Buhari minders as well as lobbyists, who are derogatorily referred to severally as the ‘Aso Rock Cabal’ or the ‘Aso Traffic Wardens’, as they decide who sees the President or not, depending on how their interests play-out. In that context therefore, the simple fact of an Osinbajo stint in office as President whether acting and therefore momentarily or not, would invariably prove unsettling to them, and is capable of  eliciting in them a desire to protect their interest as well as clout in the hallowed precincts. They could be inspired to take desperate measures in that respect. This is where the semantic twist in Buhari’s letter may qualify to many as just one of the incontrovertible pieces of evidence,  that the Aso Rock ‘Traffic Wardens’ camp is keen on effecting their agenda of vitiating the full import of Osinbajo presidential powers..

The onus now lies on the incumbent Osinbajo to prove to Nigerians that his mission is to progress beyond whatever discrepancy lies between the provisions of the Constitution and the phrase under consideration. How he fares with the country in the absence of his principal Buhari will determine which side of the debate wins the day. Will he be a man of his own or a mere clone of his principal is the question Nigerians expect answers to as they read every one of his moves. While many Nigerians will expect him to be independent minded, the situation may also not give him room to rock the boat, just because the master is away. This is a Buhari administration which has to bear his imprimatur as the real incumbent – in and out of his desk, and the President’s minders need to take comfort from that fact, even if they may think otherwise and feel uneasy. Besides Osinbajo did not demonstrate any tendency of disloyalty to his principal during the earlier instances of Buhari’s medical leaves, and has so far not presented any inclination to do otherwise now. 

 As what counts now is how the country fares under Osinbajo, there are some specific expectations of Nigerians from him, which will prove that he is actually steering between the semantics of the letter and the extant provisions of the law. For instance as Acting President he is also the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The buck on any issue no matter how sensitive actually stops at his desk. Nigerians will expect that matters that get to him enjoy his independent touch as much as possible. 

In the context of the exercise of his powers he should not forget to consolidate on the limited gains he garnered during an earlier opportunity to act as President, especially with his peace sortie to the Niger Delta region. Many people there really believe that he proved to be more friendly to their circumstances, and are longing for his second missionary journey to the creeks since in Nigeria, only visits by dignitaries to needy locations attract government presence and, may be development.