FRESH facts emerged on Saturday on why President Olusegun Obasanjo restored the privileges of Vice-President Atiku Abubakar shortly before the Court of Appeal affirmed on Friday in Abuja that Atiku remained the vice-president.
Sunday Punch learnt that the Presidency had come under severe pressure lately from influential quarters both within and outside the country after it stripped the vice-president of virtually all the privileges of his office.
Presidency sources said the pressure was as a result of what some legal experts considered as the negative legal implications of the action of the Presidency.
Government was also said to have been worried by pressure and criticisms from the international community, which allegedly saw the action as being democratically unhealthy and inconsistent with the 1999 Constitution.
Our correspondent learnt that the public uproar over the constitutionality of the action led to Federal Government�s decision to hold consultations with some select groups, mostly lawyers and some influential members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party about two weeks ago.
Five of Atiku�s aides hitherto sacked regained their positions last Wednesday on the directive of the Presidency.
The directive came barely a week after the government declared that the seat of the vice-president was not vacant, contrary to the earlier statement credited to the Presidential Adviser on Public Affairs, Mallam Uba Sani, on the status of Atiku after he emerged as the presidential candidate of the Action Congress last December.
According to the sources, government was worried by the spate of public criticisms that it had refused to weigh all the legal implications before taking drastic actions concerning the privileges of the office of the vice-president.
�There is no hidden agenda over the decision of the government to restore part of the privileges of the vice-president,� a government source said on Saturday, �The action became necessary after the authorities held series of consultations with well-meaning experts, including distinguished lawyers in the country,� added the source.
Another source, however, claimed that government action might not be unconnected with concerns expressed by a section of the international community over the feud between the two leaders.
It was learnt that the international community, in particular, the United States and Britain, were of the opinion that the country needed a relatively stable political atmosphere before it could conduct credible elections this year.
A top lawyer involved in the case but who preferred not to be named told Sunday Punch on Saturday that government�s volte-face came after a review of its decision by legal experts.
He said, �The withdrawal of the privileges of the vice-president shouldn�t have happened in the first place. But the government took the decision it took because it suddenly realised its folly, that it was ill-advised.
�It is a face-saving device, but I wouldn�t know whether there was international pressure on the government. But I think we also have to wait for the Supreme Court to decide on the matter.�
The Court of Appeal had on Friday in its ruling urged the two parties to maintain the status quo pending the determination of a suit it referred to the Supreme court.
Some privileges of the office of the vice president were either stopped or reduced last year following escalation in the bitter acrimony between him and President Olusegun Obasanjo.
His security details were withdrawn while his personal aides were also relieved of their appointments, just as his access to the presidential aircraft for official trips were prevented.
Atiku left the country for a two-week vacation in the United States shortly after he secured the AC ticket. Consequently, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party declared his seat vacant.
We could not establish proper contact with the Special Advicer to the President on Political Affairs, Chief Akin Osuntokun, as there was constant break in communication.
But he described as false, the allegations that the Federal Government was pressurised by the international community to restore Atiku�s privileges.
Meanwhile, Atiku said on Saturday he would be returning home on Friday, January 19, 2007, Empowered Newswire can report.
In an interview on Saturday in the United States, the vice-president said he had been busy holding meetings with his political associates in the US and some top party leaders who came from Nigeria.
He also stated that he had to stay up till now because he had to undergo a medical check-up.
Two leaders of his party, the Action Congress, Chief Audu Ogbeh and a former External Affairs Minister of State, Dubem Onyia, reportedly held meetings with Atiku at his Potomac residence a few days ago.
Their discussions included Abubakar�s planned return to Nigeria and the launching of his presidential campaign.
When asked if he would be returning to the country in a presidential jet since the Court of Appeal had affirmed his position as the vice president and since the Federal Government had also said the same thing, Atiku said, �that is at the discretion of the President.�
He disclosed that there is a standing request from him on the provision of the presidential jet to him, but nonetheless he is also making alternative plans in case the President does not release the jet for his use.
Defending his meetings and statements at the meeting he had with the influential US based Council for Foreign Relations on Wednesday, and also with the US press and other groups and individuals, Atiku said there was nothing he said in the US about the Nigerian government that was not true.
�Everything I have been saying are both true and verifiable. I don�t insult anybody, I didn�t abuse the President, all I have said are what everyone knows,� he stated.
For instance, he said the issue of registration of voters is one of concern to many in Nigeria, with what he called selective registration of voters. Recalling that in 2003, Nigeria registered over 60m voters, he wondered that INEC had only recently announced that it had registered 30m. �So what happens to the balance of about 50% based on 2003 figures?�� he queried.
In any case, according to him, �Now we even have a higher census figure, of over 140m people. That means there must be more Nigerians eligible to vote.�
Commenting in a similar vein, Dr. Baba Adam, US PRONACO chairman, said Nigerian prodemocracy activists had already expressed serious concerns on the selective way INEC had been conducting the voters registration exercise.
According to Adam, an influential Nigerian-American, �We have written the US State Department, Congressional leaders here and the White House expressing our fears and they told us that the US is watching the events carefully.�