PDP pact trumps constitution: Yar’Adua: North, South-South square up
Taiwo Adisa and Jackson Udom
Sunday, November 29, 2009


Indications emerged at the weekend that some Northern political power brokers are set to do battle with the South South in the event President Umaru Yar’Adua is unable to continue in office due to his state of health.



http://odili.net/news/source/2009/nov/29/611.html

The President has been admitted to King Faisal Hospital in Saudi Arabia for acute heart situation, while no one knows how long it will take him to recover.

It was gathered that some power brokers in the North have said that since Yar’Adua is currently utilizing the slot of the north in the power shift arrangement, the post of the President should still be reserved for the area, even if Yar’Adua is unable to continue his job.

Sources told Sunday Tribune at the weekend that the North is not finding the scenario funny at all and that the Northern power caucus believed that the area should be entitled to two terms of office after former President Olusegun Obasanjo had completed his two terms in 2007.

Although the plot currently being wrapped under the table is against the letters of the constitution, it was gathered that the North would make its stance known when it becomes obvious that Yar’Adua can no longer do his job.

“For now, the situation is that the Vice president is in charge, since the President handed over to him when he was travelling. The trip is to enable the President undergo treatment and there is no vacuum in government. The Vice president will stand in for him till he returns,” a source said.

But the northern political class, which has been concerned about Yar’Adua’s health for sometime now is said to have mapped out some options that will ensure it doesn’t lose out of the power equation.

One of the options is to first allow Jonathan take over the reins of power if it becomes obvious that Yar’Adua’s health can no longer sustain his hold on power and then seek his resignation to pave the way for a bye-election into the office of the President. It was reasoned that the North would be able to produce another candidate in a bye-election.

Another option is to first secure Jonathan’s resignation before the eventual health situation of the President is made public if it becomes a reality that he can no longer continue in office. That option, according to sources, will ensure that the President of the Senate assumes office as interim president pending the conduct of a bye-election.

Sources said that the two options will be presented to the Vice President in a “friendly meeting” akin to the type of situation former President Obasanjo was subjected to when a list of demands was handed over to him from the North in 1999.

But some others are said to be thinking that the situation should be allowed to sort out itself if the North is not to foist a hazy political situation on the country.

A group of opinion leaders are said to be leveraging opinion also among Northern leaders and insisting that the region should not try to play God.

“Some of our leaders are of the view that if it pleases God that the President will not continue in office, we should not try to engineer any unconstitutional move, because that could trigger other unpleasant developments across the country.

“Remember that the Vice President is from one major ethnic group as well and attempting to shuffle him aside in the power equation would mean rejection for his people and that could be counterproductive,” another Northern source said.

The Presidency reacts

The Presidency however denied on Saturday that the vice president has come under undue pressure to resign his position in the event of Yar’Adua’s ill health.

The Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Communications, Mr. Ima Niboro, in a statement denied a report in the media on Saturday that some northern elders were already pressurizing the Vice President to obtain a resignation letter.

In the statement titled: “Re: Yar’Adua’s sickness: Jonathan under pressure to resign,” Niboro said that the presidency was alarmed to read the publication.

Investigations by the Sunday Tribune indicate that while the said pressure has not started mounting on the Vice president as at Saturday, information from the security sources also indicate something of such is in the offing.

“I think the story came before its maturity. The men in the secret service are not ruling any measures out, but we cannot report any pressure on the vice president at this moment. What is paramount on the minds is prayers for the President and sustenance of our democracy,” a source said on Saturday.

The statement by Niboro reads: “We have read with considerable dismay, the story published today, November 28, with the above headline, and wish to point out straightaway that it is false in its entirety, and designed to create unnecessary panic and tension in the country. This story, we must add, is sheer mischief, and dwells entirely in the imagination of its authors, their sponsors and co travellers.

“For the benefit of those who did not read(name witheld) today, the newspaper in its lead story claimed that as a fall out of President Umaru Musa Yar’adua’s slight indisposition, which by the way, has been blown out of all proportion in the media, Vice President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is under pressure to resign. The newspaper failed to state clearly who or what body was bringing this pressure to bear, but went ahead to insult the sensibilities of Nigerians, including the Vice President himself, by suggesting that Dr. Jonathan is to be made to sign an undated letter of resignation, “which can become binding in the event that the president is unable to continue in office”.

“That this is a wild and quite insulting claim requires no further elaboration. Certainly, the general public can discountenance such drivel. “We urge all well meaning Nigerians to continue to give support to the President Yar’ adua administration. As the Vice President noted yesterday, and was widely reported in the media, the president is okay, and there is no cause for alarm.

May I note that interestingly, (newspaper name witheld) did not report the Vice President’s remarks, since they did not sync very well with their predetermined, but out rightly and obviously false resignation story. Sad.

We should be very careful. These are tough times but there are two issues involved

1) Rotation is not enshrined in the constution, it is just the usual concensus contraption
devised by politicians. What we need, at all times is a credible Nigerian President.

2) The constitutional provision is the for the sitting VP elected (selected?) on the same ticket
to assume office as President if the incumbent is unable to continue.

Please let us follow the rules.