In Support of Osinbajo as Acting President
Information and a credible one at that is the oxygen of democracy. It breathes and thrives on it. Not on listless lies, riling rues, sheer subterfuge, half-truth, cover ups and clear misinformation of the public. Unfortunately, Nigerians have been regaled by a good dose of the aforementioned since the return of democratic dispensation in 1999. Guilty of this insidious, untoward attribute are some members of the much-favoured political class, always out to attempt to twist the truth, to satiate their obscene whims and caprices.
For instance, while Section 145(1) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, clearly spells out that state functions that shall be discharged by the Vice- President, as the Acting President in the absence of the president, meanings are being read to the phrase,’ coordinate the activities of government’, as contained in President Buhari’s recent letter, for more reasons than one. True, he has done the right thing by transmitting a written declaration, as constitutionally demanded, that he is proceeding on vacation to both the Senate President and Speaker, House of Assembly. But why the controversy?
One of such, as identified by Senator Ohuabunwa is that: “I do not think in our constitution we have anything like coordinating president or coordinating vice-president. It is either you are the vice-president or you are the acting president.” Though his observation has been described as an exaggeration, critical observers of the murky polity have ascribed his stance to the swelling influence of the so-called cabal. Even Aisha Buhari, wife to the Mr. President had a few months back ventilated her angst at what she viewed as the over bearing pulling of strings by this group. And only recently, Dr. Junaid Muhammed, a former senator went a step further in a newspaper interview to name five members of the inner circle of the top hierarchy of government. That is, the power brokers who have been dictating our democratic tunes for some two years now.
The gnawing fear in some quarters therefore, is that the transmission of presidential power must have been done grudgingly, with some concerned citizens admonishing Osinbajo to watch his back! To such observers a ‘coordinator’ may not necessarily exercise full constitutional rights over those who have the authority to do whatever suits them in their various ministries, departments and parastatals. The insinuation, sad as it seems, is that a coordinator may still kowtow to some other powerful forces. Indeed, this may be stretching one’s imagination a little too far, for those of this dark view. But it is the dilemma and danger we face today.
So, must the Nigerian nation walk another tight rope, to avoid political pitfalls occasioned by the ambiguity trailing the transmission of power with the recurring ill health of President Muhammadu Buhari? That was the question that came to mind. It would be recalled, that when the then President Umaru Yar’Adua left Nigeria on November 23, 2009, it was reported that he was receiving treatment for pericarditis at a clinic in Saudi Arabia. For months he was sequestered from the public. His absence created a potentially explosive power vacuum in the country.
Such was the situation that in December 2009 Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, then president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), stated that Yar’Adua should have handed over power to the then Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan in an acting capacity during his illness. This statement got the backing of the NBA national executive committee. Subsequently, on January 22, 2010, the Supreme Court of Nigeria ruled that the Federal Executive Council had 14 days to decide a resolution on whether Yar’Adua was “incapable of discharging the functions of his office”.
On February 10, 2010, the Senate controversially used the “doctrine of necessity” to transfer presidential powers to the then Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan, and declared him Acting President, with all the accompanying powers, until Yar’Adua returned to full health. On February 24, 2010, he returned to Abuja under the cover of darkness. His state of health was unclear, but there was speculation that he was still on a life support machine.
Ayo Oyoze Baje, Lagos