Villa power tussle: Who blinks first, Osinbajo or Kyari?
Recent indications from Nigeria’s seat of power revealed that these may not be the best of times for the country. With several economic indicators not looking up for the country, the current altercations between the Office of the Vice President and that of the Chief of Staff to the President, headed by Abba Kyari is viewed as capable of pushing the country into deeper economic and political crises if not properly handled.
The Vice President derives his powers from the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, as stipulated in Section 141, subsection (1) which states that “There shall be for the Federation a Vice-president.”
Similarly, the Constitution stipulates that the President cannot contest office, without a Vice President.
Thus, the Constitution says “in section 142 subsection (1), that “In any election to which the foregoing provisions of this Part of this Chapter relate, a candidate for an election to the office of President shall not be deemed to be validly nominated unless he nominates another candidate as his associate from the same political party for his running for the office of President, who is to occupy the office of Vice- President and that candidate shall be deemed to have been duly elected to the office of Vice-president if the candidate for an election to the office of President who nominated him as such associate is duly elected as President in accordance with the provisions aforesaid.
“(2) The provisions of this Part of this Chapter relating to qualification for election, tenure of office, disqualification, declaration of assets and liabilities and oaths of President shall apply in relation to the office of Vice-president as if references to President were references to Vice-president.
The same Constitution also provide that the President can assign functions to the Vice President whenever the need arises, as stated in section 148. (1)
By virtue of the Constitutional provisions, the Vice-president is the second in command to the president.
The Office of the Chief of Staff to the
President on the other hand represents what is known as one appointed by the President to play the “Gatekeeper’s roles”
Historically, the word “Chief of Staff to the President” emanated from the United States of America, where Nigeria derived the current Presidential system of government
The position, formerly known as “the President’s Private Secretary, was upgraded to “assistant to the president in 1946. It was again upgraded to the current title of Chief of Staff to the President in 1961.
In the American presidential system, it is currently known as “Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff.”
Traditionally, the Chief of Staff selects as well as supervises the President’s staff.
He sets up the structures, controls the President’s itinerary, schedules the flow of visitors to engage with the President and also manages the flow of information in and out of the Presidential Villa, to protect the interests and image of the President
BDSUNDAY checks reveal however, that the powers, duties and functions of the Chief of Staff to the President vary with whoever occupies the office of the President.
The uneasy state of affairs inside the Presidential Villa came to the fore recently with the sacking of about thirty five of the eighty two aides attached to the office of the Vice President, in what is seen as the climax of the undercurrent of power play unfolding at the nation’s seat of power.
Inside sources in the Villa revealed that both Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and Abba Kyari have not been in talking terms and avoid each other, whenever possible
It was therefore, gathered that although the powers to carry out such administrative duties as assigning, redeployment and removal of the President’s staff reside with the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), the action was however, carried out on the directives of the Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari and without first consulting with the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo.
Osinbajo’s “sins” are said to have included the sacking of the former Director General DG, Department of State Services (DSS), Lawan Daura, in the aftermath of the “illegal” invasion of the National Assembly, when he was acting President.
It was also alleged that his roles in the appointment of Justice Walter Onnoghen as Chief Justice of Nigeria did not please some powers that be in the Villa.
Reacting to the development, Livingston Wechie, a human rights activist, called for caution in handling the issue to prevent it from escalating beyond the current state
He noted that the Chief of Staff to the President may have been acting with the right intentions to reduce the current high cost of governance, as enunciated by the President during the 2020 budget speech.
“l think the Chief of Staff is working in tandem with the President,” he said.
Wechie queried the economic relevance and necessity of hiring such humongous number of aides, who according to him, were ”arbitrarily appointed, with duplicated offices and who are not necessarily adding value to the nation’s economy.”
Wechie, a human rights activist and head of the Integrity Friends for Truth and Peace, also advised the Vice President to quit the office if he can no longer hold the office.
“If the Vice President finds his work too difficult for him to cope with, he should resign. There are many qualified Nigerians willing to take up his job and do it even better,” he said.
Jude Ohanele, the Programme Director of Development Dynamics, also cautioned against escalating the current crisis.
“The Vice President or his office cannot be subjected to the whims and caprices of the Office of the Chief of Staff to the President, because the Constitution defined the functions of the VP,” Ohanele said.
“Osinbajo has not demonstrated any act of disloyalty to Mr. President, as a matter of fact; we are not aware of any complaints yet from the office of the Vice President. They have worked together before, during and even after the elections,” he said.
“Nigeria cannot afford any form of political crises at this current state,” he also said.
A top member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Suleiman Lamorde, reacting to the development, blamed those he described as “political detractors”, for “making a mountain out of a molehill.”
“The President is in charge of the government and every one engaged in the Presidency, is engaged by the President and deployed to the offices, including the office of the Vice President. So, the Vice President’s aides owe their allegiance to the President,” he said.
Lamorde, an Abuja-based legal practitioner while debunking claims of love lost between the President and his Vice President, admonished Nigerians not to escalate the tension.
“We appeal to Nigerians not to escalate these issues. Buhari and Osinbajo are working in harmony. We cannot afford any distractions now,” he said.