Why Yar’adua’s speech, court ruling failed to pacify opposition
The President who spoke while a coalition of opposition parties and civil society organisations, Save Nigeria Group (SNG), were demonstrating in Abuja to protest his continued absence and the power vacuum in the country on Tuesday could not elicit much support from the group. The protesters denounced the BBC interview where the president spoke and […]
The President who spoke while a coalition of opposition parties and civil society organisations, Save Nigeria Group (SNG), were demonstrating in Abuja to protest his continued absence and the power vacuum in the country on Tuesday could not elicit much support from the group. The protesters denounced the BBC interview where the president spoke and called on him to transmit a letter to the National Assembly to confirm his Vice President as the acting President.
On Wednesday, the National Democratic Movement, led by former Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, asked the Federal Government to constitute a 15-man investigation team to Saudi Arabia to establish the exact location of the president and commiserate with him, meet with his doctor to obtain detailed information on the exact nature of his illness and his prospect of recovery and compile a report including recommendation on the implication of the president’s condition on the administration and political stability of the nation.
The Nigerian Bar Association on Thursday challenged the ruling of the Federal High Court which asked the Vice President to exercise the powers of President Yar’adua pending his return. The NBA President, Rotimi Akeredolu, said, “Sections 50 and 148 that were relied upon to issue the judgement only referred to the delegation of duties by the President when he is not incapacitated. Yar’adua’s statement which was aired on the BBC on Tuesday that he is not well and would return when he gets better showed that he is incapable of executing his duties as President.”
Alhaji Sule Hamma, a chieftain of NDM, told Weekly Trust that it is the responsibility of the National Assembly to save the country when the need arises. “We have clearly told the Senate that they have the overriding and omnibus responsibility in the constitution to legislate for the good governance, security and development of the country. Within the liberal interpretation of these powers given to the National Assembly when the occasion demands for the transfer of power to the VP, they must rise to the occasion and do that.”
On the allegation that the president’s speech was politically-motivated to coincide with the rally by the SNG, he said that may not be far from the truth. “Those managing the president have realised that there is disconnect between the president and Nigerians hence they decided to organise that speech. Nigerians know that the president is very sick going by the weakness in his voice and we sympathise with him. But what worries Nigerians is the absence of leadership in the country that has affected the image of the country locally and internationally.
“The health of the president is a matter of public concern and not that of himself and his immediate family alone, because Nigerians need to know how ill he is and how quick he can recover so that we can factor all of that into our affairs.”
On the court ruling, Hamma said the whole thing is being presented as if they are doing a favour to the VP while it is not. “The court ruling is declaratory to the best of my understanding. Our concern is lack of leadership in the country. Even before the court ruling, the VP has been presiding over the Federal Executive Council, FEC meetings, but the issue is that PDP and some members of FEC have refused to acknowledge the leadership of the VP.”
The NDM chieftain said the president does not need to be advised to resign, because he has the intelligence to be able to decide what is good for him, the country and posterity.
A prominent elder statesman who has seen it all but prefers not to be identified spoke to Weekly Trust on the ongoing crisis. “The whole crisis is unnecessary,” he said. “If the president is not around, the VP naturally takes over. When former President Olusegun Obasanjo was busy travelling all over the world, did he hand over to Abubakar Atiku? Did he give Atiku any written handover? Now, the courts have said the VP can exercise the powers of the president and they are still saying no.
“Look, this so-called SNG and the NBA are simply rabble-rousers. How can you insist that the president must send a letter before the VP can assume the power to act? What if the president is so sick that he can’t write? We know those behind all these crises. We have it on record those who gave N40 million to sponsor that protest organised by the SNG. You journalists should go and do your investigations.”
Emma Ezeazu, the General Secretary of Alliance for Credible Elections (ACE), said the “over 50 days absence of the president is embarrassing. It is gratifying to know that the president is still alive and is recuperating. It was a nightmare to live under the suspicions surrounding the whereabouts of the president and the grave consequences of a Mafioso holding the reigns of government by manipulating the circumstances surrounding his present conditions.
“Nigeria was turned into a laughing stock as columnists of international magazines joined their Nigerian counterparts to ask where the president of Nigeria is. I do not think that the circumstance of his leaving the country exonerates him from this major constitutional responsibility. He had an advanced knowledge of the uncertainties of his medical situation and should have prepared the nation for that. For the sake of argument, let us assume that when he left the country, he was incapable of transmitting such a communication transferring power to his Vice.
“However, from government report, they said he signed the budget. If that is true, couldn’t he have signed a formal transfer of power to his Vice? At the time he spoke to the BBC, couldn’t he have signed such a communication? In his BBC telephone interview, he alluded to the fact that he does not know when he will come back to the country. The medical fact that he does not know when he will come back is enough justification to sign a communication transferring power to the Vice.
“It is my wish that the president gets better and comes back home to clear the foul air around this episode in our national life. I have been a critic of this government right from inception, but when I heard the voice of the president on BBC, my heart went out to him. If the right things had been done, he ought not to have been put under that stress.”
On the speech of the president, Ezeazu said, “Obviously, the president’s medical situation is being exploited by a cabal around him. The cabal was frightened by the rally and perhaps the possibility of military adventurism. So they arranged the telephone interview and possibly the recent tautological court ruling. This cabal does not want Jonathan to act as president of the country. They have been marginalising the Vice President and have not accorded him respect. They are afraid that if Jonathan acts as president, their political positions will be up in the air. Simply put, they will lose their jobs. So they are doing everything they can to preserve their privileged and self-serving positions. Therein is the true danger to our democracy.”
The ACE scribe said they want the President to be well, so that he can respond to the opportunities that beckon him to greatness. “He is the president of the country at a moment of deep despair as well as great expectations. History has kept a space for him in the marble to write his name in greatness. We want him to bequeath to this nation a credible electoral system that will secure the gate to good governance in the country. This is the frontline challenge of the country at the moment and we need him to follow the courage of the initial convictions that made him to set up the Uwais Panel. We want him to come back and eject the cabal around him. He has rewarded them with enough privileges and this is the time for him to free himself from them,” he explained.
Festus Okoye, lawyer and member of the Electoral Reform Committee, told Weekly Trust that he supports NBA’s position on the outcome of the court judgement on the president. “I agree with the Nigerian Bar Association. There is a world of difference between the import of the provisions of Sections 144 and 145 of the Constitution and the issue of the general powers of delegation of powers which the judgement addressed. In relation to Sections 144 and 145, the Acting President does not need any delegated power while the import of the judgement is that he exercises the powers delegated to him or powers generally delegated to him and to ministers.”
On the implication of all these to the 2011 general elections, Okoye said it is time to debate the issue seriously. “We must begin to prepare seriously for the 2011 general elections. The Electoral Management Body has its blueprint for the election based on the current constitution and the 2006 Electoral Act, but that is tentative.
“They do not know whether things will change. They do not know whether the Constitution will be amended by the National and State assemblies. They do not know whether the Electoral Act 2006 will be amended by the National Assembly. It is bad for planning. The National Assembly must therefore expedite action on the issue of constitutional and electoral reforms.
“It is only when there is certainty in the law that the Electoral Management Body can plan with certainty. The absence of the president does not in the main affect preparations for elections. It is the National Assembly and the Electoral Management Body that are the locus of preparations. He comes in during budgeting and contesting of elections.”
He said the way out of the present crisis is for the President to hand over to the VP as acting President. “The present crisis is unnecessary. The President has spoken to the nation. He says that he is not fully well and is unable to perform his functions. The logical, rational and reasonable thing to do under the circumstance is to hand over to the Vice president as acting President and then fully recuperate. The president means well for Nigeria. I’m sure that given good health, he will transform this country,” he said.
It will be recalled that President Yar’adua left the country over fifty days ago and checked into a Saudi hospital for a heart ailment, and is yet to return to Nigeria.