There were indications last night that the
Senate leadership may have agreed to
consider a motion making Vice President
Goodluck Jonathan acting president to
move the nation forward. If such a
resolution is adopted and passed, it would
imply the Senate could receive bills from the
Vice President and that the Vice President
could make presidential appointments. The
Senate’s position is a fallout of a consensus
reached by governors on the platform of
the Nigerian Governors Forum which had in
the early hours of Friday called on the
National Assembly to pass a resolution that
would enable Vice President Jonathan
assume office as the acting President of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria. In a meeting
attended by thirty one governors, and
which produced a communiqué read by the
chairman of the Forum, Dr. Bukola Saraki,
the governors said: “The forum resolved to
meet the leadership of the National
Assembly with a view to urging them to
pass a resolution to formally recognise the
Vice President as the Acting President in the
interest of the nation.” The meeting which
started by 8pm, Thursday night, came to a
close at about 12.45 am on Friday morning.
It had only two items on the agenda; the
state of the nation, especially in relation to
the continued absence of President
Yar'Adua who is currently receiving
treatment in Saudi Arabia and the recent Jos
crisis. According to the communiqué, “the
Forum calls on all arms of government to
continue to give full and total support to the
Acting President until the President returns
in the interest of our dear and beloved
country Nigeria.” The Kwara State Governor
also noted that the governors “appreciate
the provisions of the constitution of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999) in
relation to the office of the President and
Vice President. The Forum also identified
with the judgements of the courts on the
same and agrees that the position of acting
(president) could either be verbal or written
and the Vice President has been
appropriately acting admirably.” The
Senate’s decision is in spite of spirited
moves by chairman of the Peoples
Democratic Party, Prince Vincent Ogbulafor,
to dissuade senators from taking further
action on the January 27 resolution by the
Upper House. The upper legislative chamber
had urged President Yar’Adua to formally
notify the National Assembly of his medical
vacation in line with Section 145 of the
1999 constitution. Ogbulafor’s plea was
made Wednesday night during a closed
door meeting the PDP’s National Working
Committee held with the party’s caucus in
the Senate at Senate President, David Mark’s
official residence in Abuja. Also, the
governors condemned the recent sectarian
crisis in Jos, Plateau State and declared that
the crisis was not religious, but ethnic and
political. The meeting therefore called on all
state governors as chief security officers of
their respective states to take appropriate
measures to forestall a reoccurrence of such
crisis in their states. The governors resolved
to set up a relief fund which will procure
relief materials for distribution to victims
and displaced persons in the state. The
picture was however unclear at the House
of Representatives where, THISDAY
gathered, the members remained divided
on the issue of the necessity of a vacation
letter from the president to the National
Assembly. The members had simply
resolved to send a delegation to the Saudi
Arabia hospital to ascertain the true state of
affairs with regard to the president’s
ailment. Thirty one governors some of
whom include the following attended the
meeting: Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola
(Osun State); Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala
(Oyo); Gov Usman Dakingari (Kebbi); Gov
Murtala Nyako (Adamawa); Gov Ibrahim
Shekarau (Kano); Gov Gabriel Suswam
(Benue), Gov. Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers); Gov
Ibrahim Shema (Katsina); Gov Aliyu Doma
(Nasarawa). Others at the meeting include:
Gov Babangida Aliyu (Niger); Gov. Segun Oni
(Ekiti); Gov Godswill Akpabio (Akwa-Ibom);
Gov Liyel Imoke (Cross River); Gov Ikedi
Ohakim (Imo); Gov Martin Elechi (Ebonyi)
and Gov Sullivan Chime (Enugu). Also, the
leadership of the North-West Zone of
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has
endorsed the resolution of the Governors
Forum seeking strict compliance with
provisions of the 1999 Constitution to allow
for the Vice President, Dr. Goodluck
Jonathan to be declared Acting President,
pending the return of President Umaru
Yar’Adua from medical vacation. National
Vice Chairman for North-West Zone, Dr.
Danladi Sankara told THISDAY in Kano
yesterday that the position taken by the
Governors was a proactive measure to
resolve the constitutional issues raised by
the President’s absence from the country on
medical ground. He said: “I agree with the
Governors that the Vice President Dr.
Goodluck Jonathan has lived up to his
constitutional duties in the absence of the
President, pointing out that there was no
time a vacuum existed in the presidency on
the account of Yar’Adua’s absence. Sankara
stressed: “We firmly endorse the position of
the 36 State Governors and that of the 19
Northern Governors which resolved on the
need for adherence to the provisions of the
Constitution to declare Dr. Goodluck
Jonathan as Acting President pending the
full recovery of President Umaru Musa
Yar’Adua. “The position taken by the
Governors was a validation of the earlier
position of our eminent leaders such as
former President Shehu Shagari, General
Yakubu Gowon and other prominent
Nigerians who called for restraint and strict
adherence to the provisions of the
Constitution. It is a very simple issue that
was over-politicised”. The PDP Zonal
Chairman emphasised. He pointed out that
the Vice President has proved a responsible
and trustworthy leader having performed
creditably to ensure continuity in
governance even without Yar’adua. “The
Vice President has been a trustworthy and
responsible leader who refused to be
distracted by focusing on his duties that
ensured continuity. The PDP has given him
full backing. “I have always made a strong
case for us as a people to take lesson from
the personal disposition of President Umaru
Musa Yar’adua which is tilted towards the
promotion of the rule of law.”
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