The failed attempt by a 23-year-old Nigerian, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, to bomb a U.S. airliner on Christmas Day has put further pressure on President Umaru Yar’Adua to either confirm that he is fit to govern the country or hand over power temporarily to Vice President Goodluck Jonathan. Yar’Adua has been in Saudi Arabia since November 23 when he was admitted at King Faisal Hospital, Jeddah for pericarditis, a heart condition. Jonathan has been presiding over cabinet meetings but executive powers have not officially been transferred to him in accordance with section 145 of the constitution. Radical lawyer Femi Falana, has already gone to court to challenge the legality of decisions made in Yar’Adua’s absence. Immediately the failed bomb attack was reported, Jonathan ordered Nigeria’s security agencies to work with the U.S. authorities to investigate it, while promising regular updates as more information became available. Besides the press briefing by information minister, Dora Akunyili, there have been no further communication from government on the matter. Speaking on the matter, Lai Mohammed, spokesman of the Action Congress said: “There’s no doubt the vacuum in governance is doing untold damage to both our domestic affairs and our international image.” There was no reason, he added, to believe that Nigeria’s security agencies were not fully functioning. The involvement of a Nigerian in the failed bomb attack for which the dreaded al Qaeda has claimed responsibility could not have come at a worse time for the country given the situation in which no one is fully in charge of affairs at the moment. Despite assurances by the government that everything was in order, there has been a general feeling of apprehension in the country. Mike Aondoakaa, attorney-general and minister of justice, had said the president could rule from anywhere. As if to give expression to this, Yar’Adua is said to have signed the 2009 supplementary budget into law on his sick bed in Saudi Arabia. David Edevbie, his principal secretary, was said to have taken a copy of the bill for him to sign in good time to forestall a veto by the National Assembly. Signing the supplementary appropriation bill into law from a sick bed is seen as a clear indication that Yar’Adua does not want to cede power temporarily to Jonathan. Another pointer to this is the plan to make the outgoing Chief Justice of the Federation, Idris Kutigi, to swear in his successor, Ignatius Katsina-Alu, tomorrow. This is already generating intense controversy among legal experts. The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has said it would plunge Nigeria into a constitutional crisis, though Alfa Belgore, a former chief justice, has said there is nothing wrong with Katsina-Alu being sworn in by Kutigi. Yar’Adua’s unwillingness to allow Jonathan act as president indicates a division among the power elite. Aondoakaa had written to Jonathan to exercise power as acting president but the vice president reportedly rejected the offer, saying such offer should constitutionally not emanate from the justice minister. Observers say it was a trap, which Jonathan cleverly avoided. Nigeria celebrated a decade of civilian rule in May and analysts see the chance of military intervention as slim. But with issues needing the attention of an authoritative head of state piling up, clarity over who is really in charge needs to come soon, they say.
Dec302009