₦airaland Forum

Duru1:
Bros the essence of constitution is for use by humans of average intellect not for most Nigerians and Buhari included. Mahammudu Buhari is a man who does not know the day joined the Nigerian army. What a duck.

Clearly i should cocoa.

Epaul:
I brought it up because i saw a need. Since you have done evidence, where is the snap-shot of the page of the gazzete that evidenced that Buhari is not the official minister of petroleum? We are still waiting Oga. Until you do, i'm not going to reply you again. As an evidence student one should have expected you will be arguing with facts instead churning out mere claims.

Wanna hit my books. Got lectures tomorrow. Good night.

They have not published it its weekly now.... You should know now.... They dont teach that in schools
It would be available next week

adaweezy:
They have not published it its weekly now.... You should know now.... They dont teach that in schools
It would be available next week

What sort of law student are you? Are you bird-brained on fridays or that's how you were born.

Please, kindly tell Nigerians and the world how you came about this your previous claim -

adaweezy:
THERE IS NO OFFICIAL MINISTER FOR PETROLEUM....... do you understand.... According to the Federal government gazette No Petroleum minister exists for the time being..

So, they have not published the gazette and yet you know what the content is already, that it states that buhari is not the official minister of petroleum? You must be a god! And to think you attempted to bring the veritability of a media source to a piece of bread and were even directing me to go purchase your unpublished gazette at the federal secretariat in Abuja. I'm done arguing with you. Do have a sweet night.

Epaul:
What sort of law student are you? Are you bird-brained on fridays or that's how you were born.

Please, kindly tell Nigerians and the world how you came about this your previous claim -

So, they have not published the gazette and yet you know what the content is already, that it states that buhari is not the official minister of petroleum? You must be a god! And to think you attempted to bring the veritability of a media source to bread and were even directing me to go purchase your unpublished gazette at the federal secretariat in Abuja. I'm done arguing with you. Do have a sweet night.

Newbie i used the precedence used in Obasanjo's tenure when he had Lukman rilwan oversee his petroleum affairs.....
If you are so egg headed and bulging of hot blood why don't you get a gazette and check it out on monday/tuesday or better still get the daily copies..
Learn to understand not read to reply.........
NB: Am not a law student............ hope that will help you reason clearly and no need to abuse me it shows how insecure you are at making points.....Did I abuse you or attack your personality?
Why would you even retort to abuses in the first place.... Address issues and not chase shadows

Mickey7:
In democracies all over the world,the powers of the executive arm of government resides in the head of state,the president.The position of the law as regards this matter is captured in section 5 subsection 1a of the 1999 constitution of The Federal Republic of Nigeria(as amended)

That section states that;
5.(1)Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, the executive powers of the Federation:
(a)shall be vested in the President and may subject as aforesaid and to the provisions of any law made by the National Assembly, be exercised by him either directly or through the Vice-President and Ministers of the Government of the Federation or officers in the public service of the Federation.

This in plain language means the president can exercise all executive powers of the state(Nigeria) directly except the National Assembly makes a law precluding him from exercising certain executive powers.

However,it is impossible for the president to exercise all executive powers directly.That is why the constitution suggests/allows him to appoint ministers at his discretion.Ministers act as helpers to reduce his work load.

If he must appoint ministers,such appointments must be subject to confirmation of the senate-section 147
"147. (2) Any appointment to the office of Minister of the Government of the Federation shall, if the nomination of any person to such office is confirmed by the Senate, be made by the President.


Buhari is thus empowered by the constitution to act as petroleum minister without interference from the legislature.The senate only comes into play when Buhari decides to appoint a petroleum minister.

Thanks for advancing the kind of fact-based argument which has become rare around these parts... To say the standards of discourse has fallen far on this section on NL, would amount to dignifying the low-grade reasoning skills which a lot of the ethnically charged nitwits peddle.

Now if we ignore catchy headlines and appraise Buhari's recent remarks, we would be left in no doubt that he has been operating in an 'acting' capacity all along.

“...I intend to remain the minister of petroleum resources,” Buhari said in an interview on the sidelines of the annual meeting of world leaders at the UN general assembly in New York.

Source

Would he be flouting a constitutional requirement if he were to continue in the same mode? Clearly, the answer is 'no'.

5. (1) Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, the executive powers of the Federation: shall be vested in the President and may subject as aforesaid and to the provisions of any law made by the National Assembly, be exercised by him either directly or through the Vice-President and Ministers of the Government of the Federation or officers in the public service of the Federation;

Now if your problem is comprehension, then let me break it down for you;

It means the executive powers of the Federation is vested in the president and he can exercise such powers directly or though the Vice - president and ministers or other public officers appointed by the president.

The bold quote answers your question, since the executive powers of the federation resides in the president, it means the chief executive of all ministries, with or without ministers is already Buhari. So deciding not to have ministers in a ministry can never be constitutional. A president is already the chief executive of all ministries, so the question of holding another executive position does not come up.

Epaul:
The fact in issue is a different one. Don't be too suave. You alleged that the media sources i pole-vaulted to underpin my claim that buhari actually appointed self as minister of petroleum were all skewed. So, the burden of proving they were skewed lies on you and not on me denying they are not skewed.

I have been following you arguments supported by statutes, and I must say they are in line. But, I think it's wrong to present a newspaper report as an evidence that a claim was made. Below are link to news reports which indeed counter the ones you opined.

www.informationng.com/2015/10/buhari-will-only-supervise-petroleum-ministry-presidency.html

www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-12/nigeria-s-president-buhari-will-keep-oil-minister-post-vacant

www.pmnewsnigeria.com/2015/10/12/buhari-will-not-be-minister-of-petroleum-femi-adesina/

Mickey7, if buhari can in your words "exercise ALL(emphasis mine) executive powers of the state(Nigeria) DIRECTLY.." why then did section 138 of the 1999 constitution provides that
"the president shall NOT, during his tenure of office, hold any OTHER EXECUTIVE OFFICE(emphasis mine) or paid employment in any capacity whatsoever".

Flowing from the import of the above provision isn't it clear as a pikestaff that the president CANNOT EXERCISE ALL EXECUTIVE POWER DIRECTLY as he is not brooked to hold any other executive office other the ones that come with the office of the presidency?

Do you know the office of the inspector general of police is an executive office? Can the president exercise the executive power of the IGP directly without violating section 138? Of course not, he can't. He can only indirectly exercise such powers through directives to the IGP. By directly exercising the executive power of IGP he, the president will be assuming the office of the IGP and that's what the constitution under section 138 scowls at. Or can one directly exercise the functions of an office without holding the office? To say 'yes' will be absurd.
The reason why the said section doesn't permit the president to hold another executive office by acting directly is to afford him time and space to carry out the real executive functions of the presidency which are inherently onerous for one man hence the need for a Vice.

Buhari directly acting as a minister of petroleum amounts to holding another executive office as the office of a minister is an executive office. And as such the president is prohibited under section 138 to so hold such office.

Needless to bring up the other phrase "paid employment" in section 138 as it is visible to the blind that ministerial positions and other executive offices are ''PAID EMPLOYMENT" and the said section prohibit the president from taking up othe paid employment. I wouldn't bring up that argument.

Cc: OnReflection

wisdomguy4u:
I have been following you arguments supported by statutes, and I must say they are in line. But, I think it's wrong to present a newspaper report as an evidence that a claim was made. Below are link to news reports which indeed counter the ones you opined.

www.informationng.com/2015/10/buhari-will-only-supervise-petroleum-ministry-presidency.html

www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-12/nigeria-s-president-buhari-will-keep-oil-minister-post-vacant

www.pmnewsnigeria.com/2015/10/12/buhari-will-not-be-minister-of-petroleum-femi-adesina/

i opted for those newspapers that chronicled the exact words of the president during the UN summit because i couldn't lay my finger on the link of the video that evidenced buhari saying it. But here i have it now - http://www.cnbcafrica.com/video/?bctid=4531954929001.
Buhari said at a sideline of the UN meeting “...I intend to remain the minister of petroleum resources,”.

Epaul:
Mickey7, if buhari can in your words "exercise ALL(emphasis mine) executive powers of the state(Nigeria) DIRECTLY.." why then did section 138 of the 1999 constitution provides that
"the president shall NOT, during his tenure of office, hold any OTHER EXECUTIVE OFFICE(emphasis mine) or paid employment in any capacity whatsoever".

Flowing from the import of the above provision isn't it clear as a pikestaff that the president CANNOT EXERCISE ALL EXECUTIVE POWER DIRECTLY as he is not brooked to hold any other executive office other the ones that come with the office of the presidency?

Do you know the office of the inspector general of police is an executive office? Can the president exercise the executive power of the IGP directly without violating section 138? Of course not, he can't. He can only indirectly exercise such powers through directives to the IGP. By directly exercising the executive power of IGP he, the president will be assuming the office of the IGP and that's what the constitution under section 138 scowls at. Or can one directly exercise the functions of an office without holding the office? To say 'yes' will be absurd.
The reason why the said section doesn't permit the president to hold another executive office by acting directly is to afford him time and space to carry out the real executive functions of the presidency which are inherently onerous for one man hence the need for a Vice.

Buhari directly acting as a minister of petroleum amounts to holding another executive office as the office of a minister is an executive office. And as such the president is prohibited under section 138 to so hold such office.

Needless to bring up the other phrase "paid employment" in section 138 as it is visible to the blind that ministerial positions and other executive offices are ''PAID EMPLOYMENT" and the said section prohibit the president from taking up othe paid employment. I wouldn't bring up that argument.

Cc: OnReflection

Does section 138 thump section 5 (1) (a)?

Among those in favour of Buhari’s stance are elder statesman and constitutional lawyer, Dr. Tunji Braithwaite, another constitutional lawyer, Chief Mike Ahamba (SAN), two other Senior Advocates of Nigeria, Olusola Bayeshea and Abeny Mohammed and the Convener, Coalition of Democrats for Electoral Reform (CODER) and former National Secretary of National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), Ayo Opadokun.

You see, while I applaud your efforts at facilitating a rancour-free debate (a rarity of NL these days), I think the jury is still at sea on this one...

Lawyers divided over Buhari’s plan to head petroleum ministry -- http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/2015/10/lawyers-divided-over-buharis-plan-to-head-petroleum-ministry/

OnReflection:
Does section 138 thump section 5 (1) (a)?



You see, while I applaud your efforts at facilitating a rancour-free debate (a rarity of NL these days), I think the jury is still at sea on this one...

Lawyers divided over Buhari’s plan to head petroleum ministry -- http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/2015/10/lawyers-divided-over-buharis-plan-to-head-petroleum-ministry/

Prohibitive sections runs ring over other sections in a rather ambiguous statute. It is in light of that i think section 138 supersedes section 5(1)(a) on the scale of constitutional strength and equality as section 138 is a prohibitive section while section 5(1)(a) is not. Or do you think Section 5(1)(a) thumps Section 138 - "the president shall not, during his tenure of office, hold any OTHER EXECUTIVE OFFICE or paid employment in any capacity whatsoever".?

I'm aware the Judiciary is torn in two minds about the matter. This thread is my little contribution to the conundrum as a constitutional law student.

Epaul:
Prohibitive sections runs ring over other sections in a rather ambiguous statute. It is in light of that i think section 138 supersedes section 5(1)(a) on the scale of constitutional strength and equality as section 138 is a prohibitive section while section 5(1)(a) is not. Or do you think Section 5(1)(a) thumps Section 138 - "the president shall not, during his tenure of office, hold any OTHER EXECUTIVE OFFICE or paid employment in any capacity whatsoever".?

I'm aware the Judiciary is torn in two minds about the matter. This thread is my little contribution to the conundrum as a constitutional law student.

Bros do not waste your time with moronic Nigerians who will pound their empty heads on the wall screaming “our elders are our political problem” yet only turn around to quote the craps from the same condemned elders. How could section 5(1)(a) thump section 138 which is prohibitive? This can only be a formative thought process in the mind of a deluded Nigerian.

Duru1:
Bros do not waste your time with moronic Nigerians who will pound their empty heads on the wall screaming “our elders are our political problem” yet only turn around to quote the craps from the same condemned elders. How could section 5(1)(a) thump section 138 which is prohibitive? This can only be a formative thought process in the mind of a deluded Nigerian.

my thumbs and index fingers are already aching from punching my keypad as if they are miffed pastors trying to show Nigerians the narrow path of righteousness for the umpteen time.
NIgeria is akin to the novel 'animal farm' where the grundnorm that forged the independence of the animals were treated with blacket scorn by the political silver-tails because the rest rank and file are not donnish enough to know the law themselves.

I'm currently in the library trying to complete my school assignment. So, every other mentions will be left unreplied till in the evening by which time i should have a smidgen time to spare.