DESPITE the statement from the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Alhaji Yayale Ahmed, that President Umaru Yar’Adua began his leave on Monday and that the Vice President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, would be the acting president for the next two weeks, the whereabouts of the president caused serious ripples at the Senate on Tuesday.
The Senate, at its plenary session, refused to recognise Dr. Jonathan as the acting president, because the president did not act based on the constitutional provision, which stipulates that the president shall transmit a written declaration on his vacation to the Senate, which would enable the vice president to act as the president.
What this means is that the Senate had declared that the president had absconded and abandoned his duties. Acting on constitutional order, Section 145 of the 1999, the Senate President said, “he (President Yar’Adua) has not done so (inform the Senate). That is why I have not read a letter. In the event he does so, the vice president will be acting president.”
Section 145 of the Constitution says: “Whenever 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 that he is otherwise unable to discharge the functions of his office, until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such functions shall be discharged by the Vice-President as Acting President.”
Raising the Constitutional Order, Senator George Sekibbo, who displayed copies of two newspapers which he read on the floor, of the Upper Chamber, said President Yar’Adua, according to the statement from the SGF, was going on a two-week leave and that the vice president would act in his absence.
Senator Sekibbo said: “What I just want to know is, whether Yar’Adua has transmitted the message to the Senate President in accordance with the constitution. I want to know if it has been done. If we are talking about rule of law, we must abide by the constitution. Last year, speculations abound about the whereabouts of the president and suddenly, he re-appeared and started working.
“This Senate must protect the country and we know that the symbol of authority is the president, so, the Senate must take interest in the whereabouts of the president.”
Senator Sekibbo also raised order 40 (1&2) of the Senate Standing Orders and said: “The president of the Senate shall immediately, after prayers or as soon as any new Senator-elect has taken the oath, affirmation of allegiance read to the Senate any message addressed to the Senate by the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“A message from the president, if presented to the Senate by the leader of the Senate, may be brought up at any time before the commencement or at the close of public business, and shall be considered forthwith, or ordered to be considered upon a future day.
The Senate President sought clarifications on the two issues involved from the senators; whether the problem is the president going on leave or the vice president becoming the acting president.
“What is the issue here? Is it about the fact that President Yar’Adua has not transmitted his leave to the Senate or is it on the vice president becoming the acting president?” the Senate president asked.
Contributing to the debate, Senator Sola Akinyede pointed out that it was not mandatory for the president to transmit such a message to the Senate, adding, “if he does so at the moment, the vice president becomes the acting president.”
The Senate Leader, Senator Teslim Folarin, cleared the issue that President Yar’ Adua has not communicated the issue to the Senate President and added that Senator Shekibo only relied on newspaper reports.
Reacting, a former Attorney General of Oyo State, Alhaji Adebayo Shittu, said the Senate could be right in its decision. Asked about the solution, Alhaji Shittu said since the president was very much around in the country, he could be reached to intervene or attend to pressing national matters.
He explained that the president would have contravened the constitution if he had not properly transmitted a written declaration to the Senate. He said, “the president is very much in the country.
He has not gone on vacation, he is just in lieu of absence. He has not handed anything over to anybody. Such acts could lead to probabilities and could threaten national security.”
Also speaking in a telephone interview with the Nigerian Tribune, a senior advocate, Mallam Yusuf Ali, said “since the position of the constitution is clear, the Senate was right to comply.
“The position is quite clear. There is no way you can equate a written declaration under the hand of the president to a newspaper publication. The constitution is very clear on the matter,” he said.
In his reaction, president of the Nigerian Bar Association, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN), said in the absence of the president, the vice president shoud act for him by the provision of the constitution. But Section 145 of the same constitution provides that the president should transmit a written declaration to the President of the Senate and the Speaker.
“Since Section 145 of the constitution says he must, then let him go and comply with its provision,” Akeredolu said. Also reacting, formost constitutional lawyer and university lecturer, Professor Itse Sagay (SAN), explained the process thus:
“The procedure is simply by virtue of Section 145. Where the president will be away on vacation, he shoud go by a written declaration sent to the Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives. Once he does not, until he comes back and sends a contrary notice, that he is back and ready to resume his duties, the vice president would act as president. It is a formal assumption of duty as acting president by the vice president.
“But President Yar’Adua simply announced. It is an informal way of doing it, the Senate was uninvolved. It means the vice president is not an acting president. The vice president was not formally invested. If there is something that legally requires the action of the president, the vice president cannot do it.
“Technically, although he is the only one in Aso Rock, he is still the vice president and not an acting president. He cannot act as such. If he acts, he still needs the formal approval of the president. The Senate is right.”