From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
The leader of Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), Edwin Clark, has described President Muhammadu Buhari’s not transferring power to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo before leaving for London for his routine medical check-up as illegal and unconstitutional.
Addressing a press conference in Abuja, the elder statesman asked what the President was afraid of in handing over to his Vice who proved his competence while he acted as President in 2017, when he was out of the country for over 100 days.
He accused the president of taking Nigerians for granted and ignoring Section 145 of the constitution which mandates him to handover to this Vice when he is traveling.
He further accused the President of importing foreign body into the nation’s constitution.
Clark said: “The Constitution Section 145 is very clear, simple. There is no issue of 21 days and the president cannot import into the constitution what is not there. What Section 145 says, is that president shall transmits to the National Assembly, the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, whenever he will be away on medical vacation. And in his absence, the constitution empowers the Vice President to act as the president. And the word shall is used there. Where does Mr. President get that one from? That one does not exist, except that’s another constitution. I am a lawyer.”
Recall President Buhari had in 2019 explained that he decided not to hand over power to Vice President Osinbajo when he travelled to the United Kingdom on a private visit from April 25 to May 5, 2019 because there was no constitutional requirement for him to do so.
The President had further stated that the only time he needed to hand over to Osinbajo is when he is proceeding on leave or going to be out of the country for more than 21 days.
According to Clark, Laws, deriving from the Constitution, are made to enable smooth running of societies and governments. Therefore, all and sundry, especially people in authority, are expected to obey and abide by the laws of the land.
He said: “Once again, yesterday, Monday, 31st October, 2022, in the afternoon, the Nigerian nation was greeted with different descriptions of news headlines such as Breaking: President Buhari Jets Out to London for Medical Treatment; Buhari jets out for 2 wk medical check in London; etc. but in all of these readings, I did not read where it was reported that for the two weeks President Muhammadu Buhari will be away to London for medical reason, he complied with the provisions of Chapter 6. Part 1. Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution on Acting President during temporary absence of President, which states that:
Whenever the President transmits to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representative 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
“The overseeing of the affairs of the government as Acting President, is a must because the Constitution used the word SHALL which is obligatory. And anything done outside it, is unconstitutional and illegal.
The Constitution of the nation is the grundnorm, and every aspect of it must be obeyed. Thus, Section 145 is mandatory and not discretional. The transmission of a letter to the National Assembly (NASS) ought to be automatic, and the President of the country does not have a choice to thinker with it, whether to comply or not. A President’s inability, to perform his functions, even for a few hours, mandates such action of transmitting a letter to NASS. This is what is done by any responsible government. Therefore, it should not be treated as breaking news, taking the whole nation by surprise, especially since it was not an emergency. President Muhammadu Buhari must have long secured this appointment with his Physicians for the check-up.
I recall last year, 2021, in November, the President of the United States of America, Joe Biden, was billed for a routine colonoscopy, which will require him to be under anesthesia for a few hours. He transferred his powers to the Vice President, Kamala Harris, to act as President of the United States of America for the few hours he will undergo the procedure. And for that brief period, a matter of few hours, she was described as the first female acting president of the USA. As a matter of fact, after the procedure, Americans were informed of what was wrong with their President. Also, 2002 and 2007, when President George W. Bush, as President of the USA, underwent similar procedure, he did same thing; he transferred power and his Vice, who acted as President.
Secondly, the President of Nigeria is constitutionally bound to inform Nigerians, of whatever ailment or disease he is suffering from. For which government money is being spent. Nigerians will understand; he is a human, and that is why the framers of the Constitution provided Section 145. Unfortunately, up till now, Nigerians do not know how much of tax-payers’ money is being spent on their President’s.
For President Muhammadu Buhari, to be consistently, as this will not be the first, nor second time, disobeying the laws of the land in this regard, despite complaints by the citizenry, is very disheartening. If there are doubts, about this provision of the nation’s Constitution, the Supreme Court should be approached for interpretation, rather than outrightly, disregarding the laws of the land, by someone, who has sworn to uphold, keep and protect them.
Unfortunately, no body bothers to take appropriate measures to ensure that right things are done properly, particularly in a situation where the President of the Senate is in partnership with the Executive, and is willing to do whatever the Executive says. I insist we have had more than enough. We are not in a military regime, where people are treated as conquered people. At 95 years old, my group has seen more than enough having being involved in the affairs of this country for over 70 (seventy) years.
“One is forced to wonder, what are the fears of President Buhari. He has a competent and fit Vice, in the person of Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, who is very able to hold the forte. He had proved this in 2017, when Mr. President, was away on one of his numerous medical vacations.
“The nation is bleeding financially, yet the government of the day, undertakes wasteful ventures. We understand that files are taken to Mr. President abroad whenever he is away for him to append his signature. “This is spending money and other resources recklessly. Not to talk about, the cost of parking the Presidential jet outside the country, with the number of personnel and security details who accompany Mr. President on these trips. These are avoidable expenses. And must be stopped. Presently, the nation is so indebted, that it is feared that debts burden is left for future generations of Nigerians, to bear.
“It is mere expression of arrogance of power for Mr. President to think that he can run Nigeria, a country with more than 200 million people, from far away London, something he has not done effectively even when he is in the country.”
The elder statesman again called on President Buhari to Declare a State of Emergency on the ravaging flood.
He said: “To think that all these are happening in the melee of huge insecurity and ravaging flood is unimaginable.
“In the area of the life ravaging flood, I do not even think that Mr. President is aware of the magnitude of humanitarian crisis the nation is being threatened with, when he has not even found it necessary to visit the places, to hold the children who look forlorn, with no hope, in order to give them hope and assurance, that the nation cares for them, and that it will be well. People are dying in the flood, people are starving. “No water for them to drink. Yet Mr. President does not care, where is the milk of human kindness?
“We have a humanitarian minister that is not humane, who was only active to carryout school feeding of school children who were confined to their homes during the COVID-19 lockdown. In such an urgent situation of ravaging flood, she has decided to maintain a disquieting quietness.
“Bodies like the National Emergency Agency (NEMA), were not able to take proactive measures. Where is the mother of the nation, the First Lady, Mrs. Aisha Buhari? Her fellow women are in deep agony, seeing their children dying of starvation and treatable minor illnesses, because there is no medication. “There are reports that at the Oxbow Lake of the IDP camp in Bayelsa State, women are giving birth under such conditions. Same is reported at the IDP camps in Delta State.
“President Muhammadu Buhari, during the ravaging flood, travelled to South Korea, for a meeting, without even visiting the communities which are under water. A caring President, would have rushed back to his country even he was away, before the incident. Even after he returned, he did not visit the States to see things for himself, neither did he address the nation.
“There was a stampede in South Korea, where about 150 persons died. In India, there was a bridge collapse, which killed more than 100 persons. He sent condolences to these countries. Fair enough! But what has he done in his own country, that is undergoing worse situation with thousands of persons dead? Nothing. This is appalling!
“The country is currently besieged with so many issues ranging from security where people are kidnapped, killed, communities are sacked; the economy is seriously spiralling down ward, the value of the nation’s currency, the naira, is plummeting; there is food crisis, which except by the intervention of Almighty God, will get worse. “Before now, especially in the northern part, farmers could no longer go to their farms, because they are chased and killed; others who were lucky not to be attacked and killed by these unconscionable marauders, have lost their crop and farms to the ravaging floods. Roads have been washed away by the floods. “There is no electricity. There is no fuel in the filling stations in some major cities, including Abuja, the federal capital territory; citizens buy fuel at almost two times the pump price from black marketers, who operate openly.
“We do not know what is happening with our education system. Most of the schools are shut due to security reasons, most others are shut due to the ravaging flood; even though the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), has suspended its strike, the universities are yet to function. “Unfortunately, Mr. President whenever he speaks, scores himself so high as having done very well. That is why he thinks he can rule the country from foreign lands. This is not right.
The President should, therefore, as a matter of urgency, declare state of emergency in Bayelsa, Kogi, Delta, Rivers, Kebbi, etc, States, which are currently overwhelmed by the floods. I had stated in my earlier press statement on this issue, that peoples’ lives are also lost as a result of snake bites and other reptiles that attack them in their shelters and at the various Internally Displaced Camps (IDPs).”