No provision in constitution for handover to Jonathan
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chief Ojo Maduekwe, has added a new dimension to the controversy over the failure of ailing President Umaru Yar’Adua to make Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan an acting President.
He told journalists at the United Nations headquarters in New York, United States that the 1999 Constitution did not mandate the President to do so under the ‘current circumstances of his absence’ from Nigeria.
The minister spoke just as Nigerians in the US also held their own version of ‘Enough is Enough’ rally coordinated in Nigeria by the Save Nigeria Group on Friday.
Maduekwe was reacting to a Federal High Court, Abuja ruling on Friday that the Federal Executive Council must make the health status of Yar’Adua public within 14 days.
Saying that the constitution puts a burden on the FEC, he assured that with the court’s ruling, FEC would likely “look at the issue.”
“We’ll cross the bridge when we get there,” Maduekwe said, adding that “FEC has the capacity to perform its role.”
Empowered Newswire, a US-based Nigerian news agency, quoted him as saying that when the FEC met earlier on the issue, Nigerians were already clamouring for Jonathan to be made acting President even when the situation (Yar’Adua’s health) was not as it is now.
The minister, who reaffirmed that he had not spoken with Yar’Adua since he travelled on November 23, 2009, assured Nigerians that, “As soon as the doctors recommend that he does not have to be 100 per cent well, he‘ll be back.”
Maduekwe, who reminded the journalists that he was part of the team that drafted the 1999 Constitution, observed that there was nothing in the document that mandated Yar’Adua to hand over to the vice-president in the circumstances of his absence.
He said, “Democracy is about laws and constitutions.
“President Yar’Adua will put Nigeria ahead of his personal interest, if the national interest so dictates.”
According to the minister, it was the decision of the FEC previously that the President should not be stampeded to do what the constitution did not mandate him to do even if it is desirable.
He called on Nigerians to respect the office of the President and the personal privacy of his family.
He said it was expected that if the FEC saw evidence (on the president‘s health) it will act to recommend a handover.”
Among the many questions Maduekwe fielded on Yar’Adua was one testy exchange between him and Saharareporters‘ Omoyele Sowore, who had questioned the minister‘s mandate since t he had said he had not seen Yar’Adua since late November.
In turn Maduekwe called Omoyele ‘miserable’ and refused to answer his question.
In his riposte, Omoyele returned back that the Minister himself was miserable and that he was illegally operating.
He asked Maduekwe to respond since he called the conference.
The minister later said, ”I am not committing any illegality because I have not been removed
The protesters led by the Nigerian Democratic Liberty Forum, NDLF, gathered right in front of the Nigerian House demanding the outright resignation of the President.
NDLF Executive Director Bukola Oreofe explained that “it is insulting for a cabal to hold the whole country hostage. If the president had to be away, he should handover the Jonathan Goodluck.”
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Originally Posted by okoyeh
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