Vice President Goodluck Jonathan can exercise all the executive powers vested in the President of the Federal Republic in the absence of President Umaru Yar’adua by virtue of Section 5 of the Constitution, a Federal High Court in Abuja ruled yesterday. Uncertainty however trailed the ruling because while Attorney General and Justice Minister Mike Aondoaaka welcomed it, the ruling Peoples Democratic Party [PDP] said Jonathan will not exercise Yar’adua’s powers just yet.
Justice Daniel Abutu had ruled that the Vice President can lawfully discharge any or all the functions of President Umaru Musa Yar’adua in his absence in the interest of peace, order and good governance of the federation pending when the President resumes from his medical leave.
Abuja based lawyer Christopher Onwuekwe, through his counsel Amobi Nzelu, had gone to court seeking a declaration that by the combined provisions of Sections 5 (1) and 148 (1) of the Nigerian constitution 1999, the Vice President can exercise the executive powers vested in the President in the absence of the president having regard to the circumstances of the suit.
The plaintiff stated in an affidavit of urgency that ‘In the President’s absence, the Vice President has refused/ neglected / failed to exercise any or all the executive powers vested in the President pending when the President will return and take over such powers.’
In response to the plaintiff’s originating summon, the defendants in a written address conceded that by virtue of section 5 (1) of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the President may assign any of the powers vested in him to the Vice President or any Minister of the Federation.
They submitted that under section 148 (1), the President may assign any business of government to the Vice President at any time. They further submitted that section 148 (1) like section 5 (1) of the constitution neither delineates the scope of such assignments nor do they prescribe any procedure to be adopted nor the form of instrument that may be used in vesting the executive powers of the President in the Vice President. This may be done in any manner the President may deem fit.
Attorney General Michael Aondoakaa (SAN), who appeared for the defendants [the Federal Executive Council and himself], did not oppose the reliefs being sought for. He said the delegation of duties and functions by the President to the Vice President was not due to any form of incapacity, temporary or otherwise as the Vice President can act for and on behalf of the President whether or not the President is away from the country, once the President delegates the functions to him.
He argued that the contention of the plaintiff that the President is temporarily incapable of discharging the functions of his office is mischievous as the plaintiff lacks the constitutional capacity and competence to make a declaration on the President’s capacity, temporary or otherwise. He asked the court to hold that the Vice President is discharging the functions of the President as and when they become necessary, as no vacuum has been created by the absence of the President.
Suspicions that the suit had Attorney General and Justice Minister Michael Aondoaaka’s backing were raised by several observers last night because the AG roundly welcomed the ruling, saying it showed there was no power vacuum and would allow ministers to get on with the business of governing. He also said there was now no justification for the other three cases – due before court on Thursday – to go ahead.
Appearing on the Nigeria Television Authority’s [NTA] Network News last night to explain the import of the court ruling, Aondoaaka said it means that the Vice President can exercise all the powers vested in the President by virtue of Section 5 of the Constitution, on behalf of the President, without having become an acting President by virtue of Section 148 of the Constitution.
Aondoaaka said by virtue of the ruling, Jonathan can exercise all the president’s powers, including signing legislative bills and making appointments, by virtue of Section 5, but he would be doing do on behalf of the president. He said no one else but the president can question any deed of the vice president in exercise of powers under this section. He said the court made it clear that Section 148, by which Jonathan can become acting President, can only be applied if the president himself conveys such to the National Assembly in a letter. In that case, Aondoaaka said, Jonathan will not be acting for the president but for himself. He added that neither the Federal executive council nor himself will appeal against yesterday’s ruling.
In one of the cases, president of the West Africa Bar Association Femi Falana wants all decisions taken by the cabinet during the president’s absence to be annulled. In another, the Nigeria Bar Association is demanding that Yar’adua formally hands over power to the vice president. Yet another group is asking the court to declare Yar’adua missing.
Plaintiff’s lawyer Amobi Nzelu told Daily Trust on telephone last night that with the ruling, Vice President Jonathan is now free to exercise all the powers of the president. If he does not, the lawyer said, they will return to court and sue him for contempt.
However, in his response to the ruling, PDP National Chairman Prince Vincent Ogbulafor explained yesterday the reasons why the party thought it was not yet time for Vice President Goodluck Jonathan to steer the ship of Nigeria in acting capacity pending the return of the ailing President Umaru Musa Yar’adua.
Ogbulafor said the opposition would not be allowed to set any agenda for the party. He said some politicians who were bent on destabilizing the country were behind the ongoing controversy, calling on all Nigerians particularly those involved in the democratic project to display unmitigated loyalty, maturity and restraint in the course of their actions.
Asked to explain if the decision not to hand over to the Vice President was the PDP position that was borne out fear that he (Jonathan) may sit tight once in power, Ogbulafor said, “the opposition cannot set an agenda for us. The president left here and I don’t think when he left here he intended that he will not return to the country by now. You are a human being and you can fall sick any time. If you go for a check-up, your health will deteriorate in such a way that things will wait for you to come back.
“All we have to do is to pray for the sick man to quickly recover. Thank God that we heard the voice of the President which put to question those who are frivolously wishing the President dead. At least we can now prove to them that the president is alive so that we can now join hands and pray for him to recover in time and return to the seat of government. So we hope that very soon having heard his voice he will return to do his job.”
He added, “The Vice President has proved that he is good enough to be acting president. That is why in the first place President Yar’adua chose him to be his Vice President. If he wasn’t qualified or competent having being a former governor, I don’t think he would have been chosen. We believe and pray strongly that Mr. President will soon return.
“As a knight of the church, we don’t wish any sick man dead and you as a human being who is God fearing will not pray that the President should die. So we pray for him to recover. Therefore we will continue to pray for him to recover and we will continue to ask the Vice President to continue working seriously on behalf of all of us Nigerians. We have commended him, he is doing very well. So I think very soon Mr. President will return back to this country.”
When further asked to explain the reasons behind Yar’adua’s decision not to hand over to his deputy since both are from the PDP and his controversial interview with the foreign media, Ogbulafor said, “Regarding the question on whether he should hand over to vice president, why not? I think since Mr. President left the country the Vice President has been doing extremely very well and the party has not hidden the fact from the populace. Since the president left the country, there has been no gap at all. The Federal Executive Council has continuously been making the decision and there is no vacuum at all. The vice president has been filling it.
“I think he has been acting even when not formally handed over. So we are happy with the Vice President’s action and whether the President addressed us in Hausa service of foreign media or whichever language, Hausa language is a Nigerian language. If he can speak Igbo and address us in Igbo, why not? It depends on who approaches him. If you approach him, he can speak to you in English. If you can speak to him in Igbo and he can speak the language, he will do so. He is a Nigerian who can address us in any language of Nigeria.”
Ogbulafor however backed the idea of getting the video footage of President Yar’adua whenever the delegation from the House of Representatives visit him in Saudi Arabia, saying ‘we have no objection to that’ when asked about the possibility of such media strategy.