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Monday,Jul 26,2010
Why the Government May Be Wrong on The New ‘Minimum’ Wage
The recent 63.7 percent increase in the national minimum wage, from N11,000 to N17,000 (or is it N18,000?) has gene....
By Jideofor Adibe
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Saturday,Jul 17,2010
Between Octopus Paul And Nigerian Juju Men And Pastors
One of the celebrities thrown up by the just concluded World Cup tournament in South Africa is the German Octopus P....
By Jideofor Adibe
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Sunday,Jul 11,2010
Igboland: When Did Things Really Begin To Fall Apart?
That the level of insecurity in Igboland has reached unacceptable level is no longer news. In virtually all parts o....
By Jideofor Adibe
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Wednesday,Jun 30,2010
Jonathan, Babangida and the Sword of Damocles
In the Sword of Damocles, the Roman politician and philosopher Cicero tells the story of Dionysius II, a king who r....
By Jideofor Adibe
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Wednesday,Jun 30,2010
Letter To “Father No Shaking” On The September 2010 Festival Of Oath-taking In Umuagwu-Aro, Osuh-Owerre, Isi-ala Mbano Local Government Area (LGA), Imo State
Dear Rev. Father, Greetings! I have to address by the above name since it is the name you are commonly kn....
By Odimegwu Onwumere
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Wednesday,Jun 23,2010
Attahiru Jega and the Search for a Nigerian Hero
Nigerians seem to be in constant search for public heroes - competent little messiahs who will not hesitate to put ....
By Jideofor Adibe
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Thursday,Jun 17,2010
The Return of Mallam Ribadu
Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, the one time strongman of the financial crime buster EFCC, who sneaked out of Nigeria into self....
By Jideofor Adibe
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Thursday,Jun 17,2010
Too Many Captains…
Two major attributes that have been quite easy to discern about President Goodluck Jonathan are: one, he seems to l....
By Ijeoma Nwogwugwu
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Thursday,Jun 10,2010
Should Suspects Be Paraded?
The above question is generating increasing furore among our intellectuals, and ‘beer parlour’ politica....
By Jideofor Adibe
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Thursday,Jun 10,2010
Nigeria: A Two Party System By Legislation?
Perhaps enamoured by the seeming ease with which two dominant political parties trod the political landscape of, at....
By Joel Nwokeoma
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Those National Assembly Resolutions
By:
Kingsley Omose
kingsleyomose@yahoo.com
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That some Nigerians are questioning and or challenging the actions of the National Assembly in declaring Jonathan Goodluck as Acting President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is not unexpected given that the actions in question are regarded by many as unprecedented.
Both the Senate and the House of Representatives had on February 9, 2010 unanimously passed similar resolutions to address the 78 days’ leadership vacuum that had existed in Aso Rock following the hospitalization of Umaru Yar'Adua in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The resolutions relied on an interview granted by Umaru Yar'Adua to the BBC and broadcast to a global audience on January 12, 2010 where he admitted his incapacitation, and this was taken by the National Assembly as amounting to a transmission to them sufficient to satisfy Section 145 of the Constitution.
This section provides that when the President transmits to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives a written declaration that he is proceeding on vacation or incapacitated in exercising the functions of office as President then the Vice President becomes the Acting President. Similarly, when the President transmits a written declaration to the same officers that he is ready to assume the functions of his office, then likewise the Vice-President ceases to act as such and the executive powers of that office are restored to the President.
What these Nigerians are saying is that although Umaru Yar'Adua is incapacitated as a result of which the country had been leaderless for over two months, the BBC declaration he made was not in writing and did not pass the test of transmission as contemplated by Section 145 of the Constitution.
Many have always doubted the authenticity of the Constitution which was imposed by military fiat in May 1999 as not being a product of the Nigerian people. The conduct of three flawed general elections have not eased those feelings.
However, the events of the last few weeks have ensured the consummation of the Constitution probably better than we could have achieved with a referendum because we all identified with the issue at stake, which is subjecting the occupant of the office of President to the Rule of Law. This is really what these agitations are about, and for as long as the interplay surrounding these agitations involve the Nigerian people and the three arms of government within the context of the Constitution, then we are collectively winners in what we now call the Umaru Yar’Adua saga.
Having said this, one still has to examine whether there is merit in the position adopted by those who are now arguing that since no written declaration was transmitted by Umaru Yar'Adua as required by Section 145, the decision by the National Assembly should be null and void
It is instructive that Umaru Yar'Adua who is at the center of the debate regarding whether he transmitted a written declaration to the principal officers of the National Assembly or not has not issued a public statement or granted another media interview rejecting what the National Assembly has done. We have also not seen the Special Assistant to the President on Media Matters, Olusegun Adeniyi, coming out with a written statement or press interview to castigate the members of the National Assembly for breaching the provisions of the Constitution. Even members of the kitchen Cabinet of Umaru Yar’Adua, who all along have been ‘keeping us abreast’ of his ‘rapid’ recovery process in Saudi Arabia and plans for eventual return to Aso Rock not only to continue with pursuing the 7-Point Agenda but also to contest the 2011 General Elections, have been strangely quiet.
Not even Turai Yar’Adua, who is one of a handful of Nigerians outside the medical personnel attending to Umaru Yar’Adua, on the know about the truth state of health of the President, has come out to condemn the National Assembly for imputing to her husband things that he did not do or sanction.
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