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Why is the President Still Holding on to Power? By Abdulazeez Abdullahi President Umaru Musa Yar’adua has really overreached himself this time by doing the unprecedented act of signing the 2009 supplementary appropriation bill not only outside the shores of this country - in far away Saudi Arabia - but also on his sick bed. This has never happened before in the history of our country. And there is no reason why it should because the constitution foresaw this exact situation the president and the country are in and made adequate provisions to forestall such an occurrence. The now very popular and often quoted Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution has made it clear that: Whenever the President transmits to the President of Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives a written declaration that he is proceeding on vacation or that he is unable to discharge the function of his office, until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such function shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President”. The question that begs an answer then is: why is the president vehemently and blatantly violating the constitution which he swore in 2007 to uphold? If I am asked I will say that the president is slowly losing the sympathy of many Nigerians both in and outside government – forget the support those in government say they have for him – as a result of his tenacious grip on power. Nobody is saying the man should relinquish his so called mandate which INEC claimed he got overwhelmingly from Nigerians during the last presidential elections, the point of many Nigerians however is that he should abide by laid down procedure and allow the vice president – with whom he secured the mandate – take charge until he is fit to rule again. Is the president afraid that Goodluck Jonathan will not hand back the reigns of power to him? Surely the reason cannot be that simplistic – I hope. I want to believe there is a deeper and stronger reason why the president is refusing to honour the constitution and I along with several other Nigerians will give our limbs to know what it is. I have heard it said in some quarters that he probably is afraid that handing over for no matter how brief a period might open cans of worms that may eventually consume him and his presidency but I don’t want to believe that either. Surely the president whom we were told is very prudent in his affairs - part of the reasons why it was alleged Former President Obasanjo chose him as his successor – does not have anything to hide about the way he has superintended over the affairs of this country. Many have also thrown up the religious and ethnicity card to explain the president’s refusal to allow his vice be in the spotlight. They claim that because it is the turn of the North to rule after the South’s eight years, it would be unfair for the North to relinquish power to a southerner to complete its tenure. But that too I believe is balderdash as I am sure the president of the most populous country in Africa and one of the continent’s super powers must have risen above such lame argument and would not allow trivial sentiment to becloud his judgement to the extent of discarding the provisions of the constitution. I am sure these are all the ranting of mischief makers but be that is it may it will be soothing to know the real reason why he is begrudging the vice president the chance to become the acting president as enshrined in the constitution. The problem is that with this government that has become legendary in hoarding information, we just might never know. It is not only the signing of the supplementary budget abroad that has exposed the president’s inability to fully carry out the functions of his office. Also last week, the former Chief Judge of the Federation, Justice Idris Kutigi, swore in his successor, Justice Katsina-Alu in an event that was also a first for the country. The swearing –in of a new CJN has traditionally been the function of the office of the president. In his absence, the vice president who ought to have been acting president should have performed that constitutional function, but again President Yar’adua has made that impossible. The consequence of that is the legal imbroglio that we are currently caught up in with legal experts expressing different opinions about the legality of what Justice Kutigi has done. I am in complete agreement with the 100 lawyers who came together under the name: “Lawyers with Conscience” to ask for the president’s resignation by January 31. I salute their bravery and courage in the light of the ongoing conspiracy to violate the constitution by the Federal Executive Council, the Peoples Democratic Party and the presidency’s co-travelers who insist that all is well in the country. The group, in my opinion, captured the mood of many observers when the pointed out in their communiqué that: ”… in as much as we pray for President Yar’adua’s quick recovery from his current ailment, we boldly state here that it is not at the discretion of the Federal Executive Council or the Attorney General of the Federation to decide on what on what interpretation should be given to any of the sections of the constitution/our laws or when to apply Sections144, 145 and 146 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, but a duty we owe the country and which they must carry out”. President Yar’adua must be reminded that he is holding the nation hostage by his inability to discharge the duties of his office and refusing to pass on the baton until he is fully able to do so. The FEC, PDP and Goodluck Jonathan himself ought also be reminded that it is not about their ability to hold forte while the president is away – for 43 days and counting – it is about due process which they seem determined to subvert. To continue insisting that no vacuum has been created with the president’s absence actually a denigration of the office of the president and I think all who wish to country well should stand up to stop this rape of the constitution
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