The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Michael Aondoakaa, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, on Wednesday denied reports credited to him that he wrote to the Vice President, Goodluck Jonathan, asking him to take over from the President, Umaru Yar’Adua, due to his ill health. But the denial is not likely to douse what is shaping up to be a constitutional crisis at the highest level of governance in the country – mostly due to the hurried departure of Mr. Yar’Adua to a Saudi hospital for medical treatment.
Because Mr. Yar’Adua failed to designate a replacement for his job before he travelled, several matters of national importance have been left unattended so, as Mr. Jonathan is unable to act for his boss.
There are worries about the status of the new Chief Justice of Nigeria and the fate of the supplementary budget passed recently by the National Assembly. Mr. Aondoakaa, in a statement in Abuja signed by his senior special assistant, media, Onov Tyuulugh, said the insinuation contained in the report was wrong in its entirety. “I, as the number one law officer of the Federation, do not have such powers to direct the vice president to take over,” he said. “The relevant section of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria vests the powers to appoint or replace the President of the Federation on the National Assembly.” He also said the Chief Justice of the Federation, the President of the Court of Appeal or any judicial officer can function in that capacity, after taking their oath of office as stipulated in section 290 of the constitution.
The Attorney General said it became necessary to make the clarification, after misconceptions on the position of the President and the Vice President, Goodluck Jonathan.
Gale of criticism
Meanwhile, some notable lawyers have criticised Mr. Aondoakaa over the reports that he asked Mr. Jonathan to sign the 353.6 billion 2009 supplementary budget passed by the National Assembly. The reports said Mr. Aondoakaa had argued that the vice president or any minister could act on behalf of the president. He was said to have quoted section 5 of the constitution, which stipulates that the president’s powers could be delegated.
The Minister for Information and Communications, Dora Akuyili, when contacted by NEXT, claimed to be unaware of such a directive from the Attorney General. “I have not been briefed on the matter. When I get briefed, I will let you know,” he said. Also, Ima Niboro, the vice president’s special adviser on media said, ‘‘I am not aware and I can assure you that the VP received no such letter.” However, the president of the Nigerian Bar Association described the position of Mr. Aondoakaa as “trying to turn the law on its head”. Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu, who said he has not seen the letter written by the Attorney General, however, said if the report is true, it will be presumptuous of the minister. Mr. Akeredolu said: “Who is he? It must be presumptuous that he thought he has such powers. He has no such powers. His action is unfortunate and is not in accord with the provision of the law which we expect that he should know better. “The position of the law is simple. The vice president is incapacitated and he cannot act.
If the president is on vacation or he is otherwise incapacitated, they should have transmitted the declaration to the Senate to state clearly, under section 145, that he has that problem so that they can now swear in the vice president. He is the one vested with such powers, having been sworn-in to take whatever step as the president would have done, for example, the swearing in of the Chief Justice of Nigeria.”
Chief Justice must be sworn in by the President
The NBA President also warned the vice president to be wary of advice emanating from the stable of the Attorney General. “Let me state this very clearly, the Federal Executive Council and the Vice President should be very mindful of relying on advice from the Attorney General because he is certainly missing the point. He is not advising him as a lawyer. If he is advising him as a lawyer, he would advise them properly.
His advice is suspect and they have to be very careful with him because the delicate balance on which the country is standing should not be allowed to fall with the likes of Aondoakaa.” On the comment linked to Mr. Aondoakaa that the constitution does not require the Chief Justice to be formally sworn in, Mr. Akeredolu accused the Attorney General of playing politics with everything. “It is an unfortunate development. Without a president or a vice president who have been sworn in to act in that capacity, nobody can swear in a CJN and we don’t have a CJN. The approval of Senate has nothing to do with it.
The fact that the President has been elected, until sworn in by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, would he become president of Nigeria? No. Just like if somebody has been approved by the Senate to be CJN, will he just assume the office? No. The man does not know what the law provides or if he knows, he is trying to turn it on the head.” Wahab Shittu, a law lecturer at the University of Lagos, also believes the Attorney General is wrong over the report. “Section 145 takes precedence, because the President is definitely on medical vacation and you cannot request the vice president to be acting without the consent of the president, who must say so in writing to the National Assembly,” he said.
Blame president’s advisers
Mr. Shittu also blamed the president’s advisers for the imbroglio. “They should take the blame for not doing the right thing. He should have sent that letter before he left to the National Assembly.
Without that, there is nothing (Vice President) Jonathan can do.” Femi Falana, the President of the West African Bar Association (WABA) described Mr. Aondoakaa reported comment as, “an illiterate talk”. “He is talking rubbish,” he said.