President gets 14-day ultimatum to notify N’ Assembly of vacation

The Senate yesterday rose strongly to commence the enforcement of the Constitution of the Federation by passing a resolution, urging ailing President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua to formally notify the National Assembly of his medical vacation in accordance with the provision of section 145 of the 1999 constitution.

The resolution was adopted after a stormy three-hour executive (closed-door) session after two days of intense deliberation amid high stake politicking over the health condition and absence of the ailing President. Tuesday’s closed-door session on the same topic lasted five hours.
In the unanimous resolution, the Senate equally directed its Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution to propose an amendment to section 145 of the 1999 Constitution to resolve the flaws and ambiguities exposed by the present circumstance occasioned by the ill-health of the President.

The Upper Chamber, according to sources, did not just stop at making the request but went a step further by giving the President a 14-day ultimatum within which to send his notification or else the lawmakers would have no choice than to commence impeachment procedure against him by invoking sections 143 and 144 of the constitution. Senate spokesman, Senator Ayogu Eze (Enugu North) who briefed newsmen after yesterday’s sitting, however, denied that the President was given an ultimatum, apparently in line with the decision of the senators at their executive session to play down the ultimatum.

According to Eze, a political solution was applied to the power problem hence there was no need for an ultimatum for Mr. President. But despite such denial, Daily Sun sources hinted authoritatively that a 14-day time frame was given to Yar’Adua to formally communicate the National Assembly to enable Vice President Goodluck Jonathan receive the mandate of the Assembly to act as President.
Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution states inter alia; “Whenever the President transmits to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives 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 Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Alhaji Yayale Ahmed was said to have told the senators when he briefed them last week that President Yar’Adua actually wrote a letter, which he addressed to the National Assembly in compliance with the provisions of the constitution before leaving the country. The SGF, according a senator who confided in Daily Sun, revealed how Yar’Adua directed him to draft the letter which he did and forwarded to the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Mr. Michael Aondoakaa for vetting.

The Head of Service further revealed that a clean copy of the letter was later handed over to the Presidential Liaison Officer at the National Assembly, Senator Abba Aji for onward delivery to the two legislative chambers through their leaderships. The transmission of the letter as stated would enable the National Assembly to empower the Vice President to act in the absence of the President as provided in section 145 of the constitution.

The Senate resolution, however, fell short of the expectation of the members of the National Interest Group (NIG) that is being coordinated by Senators Bala Mohammed (ANPP Bauchi) and Smark Adeyemi (PDP Kogi West) as Chairman and Secretary respectively who had canvassed for the Vice President Goodluck Jonathan to act as Acting President.

Daily Sun gathered that but for the intervention of the President of the Senate David Mark who passionately appealed to senators to tread softly on the matter so as not to worsen the condition of the ailing President in addition to the argument by some other senators that since the Senate had not before now issued a notice to the president on the matter, he should be given time to respond to the resolution of the senate.|

However, the pattern of debate at yesterday’s closed door session also revealed a shift of position within the rank of the senate leadership. While the Senate President, David Mark stuck to his hard-line position by maintaining things were okay based on the status quo, some other principal officers saw enough reasons to break ranks with him as they spoke in favour of the activation of section 145 of the Constitution. A senator who spoke with Daily Sun yesterday on condition of anonymity described yesterday’s resolution as a victory for the pro-democracy bloc in the upper chamber especially the NIG members. “The Senate by this resolution is only following due process before the wielding of the big hammer if necessary.”

This was as it was gathered that the ailing president might be flown into the country on or before this weekend as a way of beating the senators to their game of ensuring that Vice President Jonathan is made president in acting capacity. It was, however, learnt that the Pro-Jonathan senators whose figure increased to about 80 on the floor of the Senate yesterday are aware of the development thus mapping out new strategy towards ensuring that the ailing president steps down and allow his deputy to act in his absence.

A member of the National Interest Group, told Daily Sun in confidence that one of the strategies would be that if the President is brought back into the country with the aid of life support equipment so as to evade his handing over to Dr. Jonathan, the Senate would move to get the president to appear before it and address the legislators for a thank-you visit as a way to puncture the move of the pro-Yar’Adua group.

One of the arrowheads of the NIG Senators told Daily Sun that as far as they are concerned, President Yar’Adua is sitting on a time bomb as if he refuses to send the letter to the National Assembly as directed by the Senate, the Federal Legislature would be forced to consider Section 143 of the Constitution which deals with impeachment based on gross misconduct.

In the same vein, former governors now turned Senators that supported the Pro-Jonathan group included Bukar Abba, Kabiru Gaya, Isiaka Adeleke and former military administrator, Mohammed Mana, while former governor Ahmed Makarfi (PDP Kaduna), Kamarudeen Adedibu (PDP Oyo), Jacob Mustapha (PDP Ogun) Gbemi Saraki (PDP Kwara) Gregory Ngaji (PDP Cross River) Kaka Yale (ANPP Borno), and Hassan Gusau were said to have refused to make contribution on the matter.

Briefing journalists at the end of the Senate closed-door session, Chairman of Senate Committee on Information and Media, Senator Ayogu Eze said Senators decided to speak like statesmen even in the face of certain limitations in the constitution. According to Senator Eze; “We embody the mandate of the people of Nigeria and we try to reflect their aspirations and their desires in whatever we do and that is what has guided the decisions we took today.”

Meanwhile, the pro-constitution movement in the National Assembly, which has been concentrated more in the Senate has spread to the House of Representatives as a sister group of the NIG met on Tuesday night at Rockview Hotel and has started collection of signatures of members of the Lower House. About 40 members of the House were said to have attended the meeting where far-reaching discussions were held and the action plan worked out towards winning more lawmakers to the fold.


From NOSIKE OGBUENYI and AMOS DUNIA, Abuja

As Senate orders President to apply for vacation, Federal Executive Council insists ...Yar’Adua is fit

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) did not disappoint yesterday when it decided that transfer of presidential authority to Vice President Goodluck Jonathan was a discretional power, which only President Umaru Yar’Adua could exercise.

At its weekly meeting in Abuja presided over by the vice president, the FEC said the issue of acting president was a security matter which should not in any way be mixed with politics, pointing out that only ailing President Yar’Adua could declare himself incapacitated and unfit to continue to function in office.

Accordingly and in compliance with last week’s order of the Federal High Court that the executive council of the Federation should within 14 days pass a resolution to determine the state of health of the president, the council restated its earlier position on the issue:
*That the president is not incapable of discharging the functions of his office, and
*That the medical treatment outside the country does not constitute incapacity to warrant or commence the process of the removal of the president from office under sections 144 and 146 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mr. Mike Aondoakaa, who read the council’s resolution on the ailing president to State House correspondents at the end of the meeting, stressed that transfer of power to the vice president was not only the prerogative of the president, but must also be voluntary.

“This is a pure discretional matter left to the president and it can only commence with the president writing a letter and it is a voluntary transfer of power which neither of us, nobody has control over except the president himself,” he stated.

He said in the entire history of the United States of America which practices a similar presidential system of government as Nigeria, the issue of acting president had only been applied thrice.
“Only three times in the history of America has someone acted as president. In all the cases, the self-declared incapacity method was used by the president himself, who would write voluntarily to transfer presidential authority to the vice president,” he further stated.

Aondoakaa emphasised that the very first time in the US history that an acting president emerged was in 1985 when President Ronald Reagan ceded power to then Vice President W. Bush (senior) so he could undergo surgery to remove a cancerous substance from his colon, pointing out that even then, Bush acted for just one day, from 11.28 am to 7.22 pm.

“The first instance that occurred was July 13, 1985 when President Ronald Regan went for surgery to remove cancerous substance from his colon. Prior to undergoing the surgery, he transmitted a letter to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the temple of the Senate declaring himself incapacitated. The VP, W. H. Bush acted as president from 11.28 am to 7.22 pm on the same day, that is as soon as the operation finished, Regan transmitted the second letter and assumed the power of president.

“The second incident was on June 29, 2002. President George Bush (junior) declared himself temporarily unable to discharge the power of the president and the duties of his office because he was undergoing surgery, which required sedation. He invoked the 25th amendment to the Speaker and the President of the temple of the Senate and then Vice President Dick Cheney acted as the president for a little over two hours, this is from 7.09 am to 9.24 am whereupon Bush transmitted the second letter to assume power and duties of office.

“The last was on July 22, 2007, was under the same circumstances as 2002, when President W. H. Bush transmitted a letter to the Speaker and the President of the temple of the Senate declaring himself temporarily unable to discharge the power and the duties of office as he is to undergo another surgery which required sedation. VP Cheney acted as the president from 7.16 am to 9.21 am of the same day becoming the first VP to act as the acting president for more than once in the history of US.

“In all these, although the public was aware that temporary handover would take place, for security purposes, the time it occurred was not revealed until Bush came back to power. This is the position of acting president in US,” he further pointed out.
The attorney-general further explained that although the court had to rule on the matter of vice president assuming acting capacity, the constitution of the country did not make provision for any swearing in, adding it was an automatic elevation to that position, which must he, however, said must start from the president.

“On the part of the executive council, we have accepted the decision of the court and as long as we know, no minister can disagree with the VP and no executive order issued by the Vi ce President can be questioned by any authority in the executive arm of government. That is the position,” he told the newsmen.

Asked if medical experts were consulted by the council before it arrived on the decision that the president was fit to continue in office, Aondoakaa said the constitution did not make that provision, adding “we followed the constitution.” Responding to another question on whether the vice president could dissolve the Federal Executive Council as constituted at present, he said “we do not answer speculative questions. The law deals with actual questions and a positive mind does not think in the negative. The question is thinking not like a positive man.”

On what informed the council’s decision, the minister said “well, the executive council is made up of people with high integrity, which is inclusive of the VP who ordinarily is supposed to be the beneficiary of what other people are canvassing for. I have told you that it is a unanimous decision and that alone should have shown you that he is true and faithful because he took part in the decision.”

Meanwhile, council approved N684.9 million for provision of insurance cover for staff and strategic property and assets of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC); and another N925.72 million for design of its headquarters in Abuja. The Minister of Information and Communications, Prof. Dora Akunyili who briefed the correspondents on the other decisions reached at the meeting said the council gave the nod for the EFCC to acquire its own headquarters complex in Abuja so that it could move out of the seven rented buildings it is currently occupying in the city.

Another decision of the council was approval of a N233.1 million contract for the environmental impact assessment study for the development of the Mambilla Hydroelectric Power Project; and another N239.02 million for the purchase and installation of three water hyacinth harvester machines for more effective control of the weeds which have invaded waterways, lakes and reservoirs in the country.

From LUCKY NWANKWERE, Abuja

Yar’Adua fights back...Loyalists hold counter rallies in 6 states

Piqued by the growing anti-Yar’Adua sentiments sweeping across the country, which peaked with ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo’s devil-may care outburst last Thursday, the Presidency and groups loyal to the ailing president may have resolved to counter the onslaught employing “multi-dimensional tactics.

Beginning from next weekend, Kaduna, Enugu, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kano and Maiduguri will witness massive rallies to drum up support for the ailing president and douse the flames of the conflagration for his removal from office.

The rallies will move to selected local government headquarters nationwide in the coming weeks.
Already, all the pro-Yar’Adua groups have been galvanized for the project with a soothing financial back-up from the Presidency. It is being co-ordinated by Yar’Adua for New Nigeria (YFNN), an offshoot of the moribund Peoples Front (PF) founded by the President’s late elder brother.

A source close to the presidency, which confirmed the development to Daily Sun, could not, however, disclose the budget for the project. The source expressed disappointment at the tension generated by the “needless apprehension over the President’s absence and calls including court orders for Vice-President Jonathan to take over.”

It said, if not curtailed now, the nation stands on a precipice of instability, while suing for understanding of the situation.
Daily Sun further learnt at the weekend that pro-Yar’Adua’s elements in the Presidency have resolved to step up action to nip in the bud any acts capable of “humiliating the president out of office based on his illness, which they insist has yet to go out of hand.
In pursuit of this, the security and intelligence agencies have been mobilized to keep a tab on insiders who are working to keep the crisis on with a view to reaping from it. Specifically, members of the executive council of Nigeria, known in local parlance as Federal Executive Council (FEC), as well as the leadership of the National Assembly are prime targets.

Attempts to rope in “errant media houses,” through official harassments, arrests and litigations to get them off the line of sensationalism on the issue until the president recovers was re-buffed. A senior aide in the presidency had argued convincingly that the later recourse would rebound and create avoidable problems it sought to solve.

Consequently, the Presidency may have resolved to work in unity, with pleas to all appointees of the president to shun what was termed “the arguments of the opposition, who want to capitalize on the president’s sickness to hijack power.” There was no immediate confirmation of the vice-president’s position on the new offensive, which effectively would clip his wings in the emerging scenario.
But in line with his “play along tradition,” with which he has cleverly evaded troubled waters in the aftermath of his boss’ absence, the country may expect no less from him in terms of co-operation. As part of the strategy, the president’s men especially those overseeing politics, media, communications have been urged to gear up to the challenge by issuing statements that would be attributed to the president on every issue especially the Anambra elections, and the on-going African Nation’s cup in Angola.

This, it was contended, would deflate the soaring agitations and keep President Yar’Adua constantly in the minds of the people as “working” and not as an invalid as some have chosen to label him.
This is by far the most comprehensive and far-reaching fight back by Yar’Adua loyalists since he left the shores of this country on November 23 last year for medical treatment in Saudi Arabia. Persistent calls have been made by concerned individuals and groups for his Deputy, Goodluck Jonathan to act. About two court judgments have so far been secured for the empowerment of Jonathan constitutionally as acting president in line with section 145 of the 1999 constitution.

The president had been roundly accused of not complying with constitutional provisions of transmitting a letter to the National Assembly informing them of his medical vacation abroad, a situation that has stood the country on the edge of major crises.

By CHIDI OBINECHE

Yar’Adua: Court rules on NBA suit Jan. 29

The Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Dan Abutu has fixed Friday, January 29, 2010 to deliver his judgment in the suit instituted by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) over President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s absence from the country.

Meanwhile, the court will today make its decision known on another suit filed by Hon. Adamu Aliyu whose prayer is for a declaration that President Yar’Adua is incapacitated judging from circumstances surrounding his hospitalization in Saudi Arabia.

The multiple suits have been vehemently opposed by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Michael Aondoakaa (SAN), who had told the court to dismiss them for lacking in competence.

It was also the contention of the AGF that the court lacked jurisdiction to ask the vice president to act in the absence of a letter from the president under Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution just as “the court cannot declare the office of the president vacant.”
He submitted that “if at all there exists a gap in the circumstances surrounding the medical treatment of President Yar’Adua abroad, it is not for the court to write the letter.”

The justice minister submitted further that the court could not make the condition precedent for Vice President Goodluck Jonathan to function as the acting president. Aondoakaa said he was surprised that the NBA had joined other bodies to cause confusion over the president’s health.
The AGF said that President Yar’Adua was performing the functions of his office as exemplified by his signing of the 2009 supplementary budget on December 31.

According to him, the argument by NBA that President Yar’Adua had not performed his duty was baseless as there was no evidence to prove it. He said that if the NBA was concerned about perceived gap in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the best way out was for the National Assembly to amend the constitution.
The minister said “it is not the function of the court to make law and it would amount to usurping the functions of the legislature if the court acceded to NBA prayer by relying on the “doctrine of necessity.”

Former Attorney-General of the Federation, Chief Akin Olujimi (SAN), who represented the NBA had told the court to rely on the “doctrine of necessity” to save the country’s constitution and ensure peace.
He said that President Yar’Adua’s failure to send a letter to the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives created a situation the constitution did not anticipate and that in the interest of peace and good governance the court should invoke the doctrine of necessity as it was done in the United States of America some years ago.

Olujimi said the claim by AGF that President Yar’Adua was performing his functions was not true because when the position of the chief justice of Nigeria became vacant, the outgoing CJN had to save the situation by performing the function.
He added that the duty of Mr. President under Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution was one that must be performed and where he failed like the present situation, the court could invoke the doctrine of necessity.
From GODWIN TSA, Abuja

Resign now, Obasanjo tells Yar’Adua..Says: ‘I didn’t impose him on Nigerians’

Former president Olusegun Aremu Obasanjo, broke his silence on President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s ailment yesterday, saying the ailing number one citizen should take the path of honour and morality by throwing in the towel.

This is even as he vehemently denied the allegations that he deliberately imposed ailing President Yar’Adua on Nigerians to punish them, saying it was an insult on his person.
Obasanjo, who was speaking in Abuja at the 7th annual Trust dialogue put together by publishers of Daily Trust Newspapers, said it was an insult for any God-fearing and right thinking Nigerian to have that kind of assumption after all his contributions and sacrifice to this country in peace and war times.

Denying the allegations, Obasanjo swore: “Nobody picked Yar’Adua so that he will not perform. If I do that, God will punish me. Yes, because I love this country so much and there is no reason why I should do that.”

He advised that the proper thing for Yar’Adua to do in his present situation was to resign.
According to him, “If you take up an appointment, a job, elected or appointed whatever and then your health start failing, and you will not be able to deliver and satisfy your self and satisfy the people you are supposed to serve, then there is a path of honour and a path of morality and if you don’t know that, then it means you don’t know anything. I will stop at that.”

The former president who admitted that he played a great role to search for someone that would succeed him in office, said he found the three qualities he was looking for in Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, but did not know medical condition was very critical. According to Obasanjo, the medical report presented to him by Yar’Adua when he first approached him on the idea for him to contest the post of president, showed that he had crossed the most critical stage in his kidney condition. The former president added that that convinced him that Yar’Adua was the right man for the job.

Obasanjo explained further that, based on the medical report presented to him by Yar’Adua, he contacted medical experts who allayed his fears and assured him that Yar’Adua had indeed crossed the most critical stage of kidney failure.
Obasanjo, spoke for the first time on the allegation by some Northern leaders that he deliberately planted President Yar’Adua despite his unstable health on Nigerians to serve as punishment to the Northerners. He dismissed the allegation as untrue. According to the former president, he had set out three very important qualities, which anyone that was to take over from him must possess.

He said, “as to succession, I was convinced that a Southerner succeeding me will not augur well for Nigerians. You may not agree with me but that is the truth. And I was looking for somebody who has three important qualities. I was looking for somebody who will succeed me to be somebody that has enough intellectual capacity to run the affairs of the country. I was looking for somebody who has sufficient personal integrity to run the affairs of the nation, somebody who is sufficiently broadminded politically, religiously and socially to manage the affairs of the nation. These three were important and paramount to me.”

Obasanjo, who got emotional while explaining his relationship with President Yar’Adua, said: “when the idea for him to contest came up, I know he had kidney problem and was under dialysis and that sometime earlier, he had gone abroad and stayed for close to six months while he was governor of Katsina State.

“And so when the idea was conceived for him to contest I asked him, and he gave me a medical report. And the medical report showed that he had come off dialysis. I asked experts who then told me that if you were under dialysis, and you are no longer on dialysis, it means you have had a successful kidney transplant and that you can stay as long as God may wish that you live. Now, who am I and who are you not to accept that and that was how we started off with the campaigns.

“If you remember, at one stage of the campaign when it was intense, he broke down and the chairman of our party, Ahmadu Alli also broke down and they went abroad for check up and the rumour was that he was dead and I phoned him and I put the telephone on speaker and I said, ‘Umoru, are you dead?’ That was the true situation.”

The former president maintained that he was not aware, to the best of his knowledge, that President Yar’Adua, was on dialysis after that, adding that the issue of dialysis actually came up during his first year in office.
“It wasn’t to the best of my knowledge that he was on dialysis after that. When the issue of dialysis came up, it was well in his first term, which must mean one thing and that is that the kidney transplant is failing, if it has not failed, and we don’t have to blame him for that.”
An angry Obasanjo, in explaining his position on picking Yar’Adua as his successor said, “so for people to say that I, Olusegun Obasanjo, deliberately put somebody who is an invalid, I think it is the height of insult. How can I put so much in this country both in peace and war time and give the running of this country to one that is invalid? How can I? And you say there is no constitutional crisis?
Obasanjo’s reaction to the Yar’Adua saga came up during the interactive session, when an angry young man from the North openly accused the former president that he imposed President Yar’Adua on them and that the president’s state of health had dragged the country backward and caused a ripple.

Obasanjo, who apparently looked not too happy about the way things were going on in the country said he would not say much about the constitutional crisis currently rocking the country as he had talked on that in his capacity as the Peoples Democratic Party Board of Trustees chairman last week.
He, however, shocked the audience when he said “if you take up an appointment, a job, elected or appointed whatever and then your health starts failing and you will not be able to deliver and satisfy your self and satisfy the people you are supposed to serve. Then, there is a path of honour and a path of morality and if you don’t know that, then it means you don’t know anything. I will stop at that.”

From MOLLY KILETE, Abuja

HOPE DIMS ON YAR'ADUA'S RETURN

When President Umar Musa Yar’Adua spoke to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), at the height of speculation that he was dead, many a Nigerian heaved a sigh of relief. When he reportedly left hospital for a private home, to fully recover, after treatment, Nigerians thought that his stay abroad would soon come to an end. However, feelers have indicated that Nigerians may have to wait for long before Yar’Adua returns home.

Indeed, the president had said, in the BBC interview, that he would return home when he is well enough to do so. He said, when asked when exactly he would be going home: “I am getting better. Anytime God heals me and I am strong, that is the time, insha Allah. I will come back to Nigeria any time the doctors discharge me.”

Saturday Sun gathered that Yar’Adua was frank in the interview. He knows how he feels and do not want to gamble with his life again. Although the president is no longer in hospital, it was learnt that it would still take some time before he returns to Nigeria, as Yar’Adua is weak and under doctors’ close watch. This condition was visible in the interview he granted BBC, where his voice was weak and he coughed.

Sources revealed that doctors are actually afraid that Yar’Adua may suffer a relapse and, therefore, do not want to risk allowing him to return to Nigeria. According to sources, doctors fear that if the president returns to Nigeria and suffer a relapse, it would be difficult to manage the situation. The doctors are said to reckon that it would be easier to handle a relapse or emergency if the president is in Saudi Arabia.

Apart from that, it was learnt that the doctors say that in his present state, it will be risky putting Yar’Adua on the plane, where he would lie down for no fewer than six hours, with the attendant turbulence in the air.
With such situation, a competent source revealed that the president may still be away for as long as two months or more.
The source said: “The truth is that Nigerians should not expect the president soon. He will still be in Saudi Arabia for some weeks. As it is, the doctors are not in a hurry to let him go. This is so because Yar’Adua survived by a hair’s breadth. He was in real bad state in the months of November and December. Now that the worse appears over, the doctors are having an eye on him.”

Why Yar’Adua can’t appear on TV
Saturday Sun gathered that the demand by Nigerians for clips of Yar’Adua in hospital should be shown on Nigerian television could not have been granted because of the president’s condition before now. Sources revealed that a close confidant of the president fears that recording Yar’Adua and showing the clips in Nigeria may raise the agitation that he relinquish power to Vice President Goodluck Jonathan, an option the northern power brokers do not want to consider.
It was gathered that it was the fear that Nigerians journalists, who have been nosy about the president’s treatment abroad, would not conceal what they see, if they are taken to Saudi Arabia to speak with the president, that made the government to prefer the BBC.

Before the BBC was allowed to speak briefly with Yar’Adua, we gathered that a deal was reached that the interview would be brief. Sources revealed that the doctors had prepared Yar’Adua and stabilized his condition before the BBC correspondent was allowed to see him.

The coup against agitation for an acting president
Until the Yar’Adua interview on BBC, the agitation for the transfer of power to Vice President Goodluck Jonathan had reached a crescendo. It was gathered that when the National Assembly resumed sitting and scheduled to discuss the president’s absence from the seat of power, Yar’Adua’s associates panicked and thought of what to do. Afraid that public opinion may be swayed in favour of handing over power to Jonathan, in an acting capacity, especially if the National Assembly supports the move, the proponent in the ailing president still holding the rein of power mooted the idea that a media interview should be arranged.

Those, who arranged this was smart enough to put the broadcast on Tuesday morning, the same day the National Assembly had scheduled to discuss the president’s health condition. The BBC interview, therefore, removed the sail in the ship of those who wanted transfer of power. A source said that the strategy worked, as the National Assembly members, having learnt about the early morning BBC interview, decided to treat cautiously.

One source said: “The Tuesday morning BBC interview was a perfect strategy to stall the idea of having an acting president. These people are good strategists. They deliberately fixed the broadcast for Tuesday morning, same day the Senate and House of Representatives discussed the matter. The strategy worked. Didn’t you see how the Senate handled the matter? Instead of canvassing the need for an acting president, they talked made general comments and even dumped the suggestion to send a delegation to Saudi Arabia to ascertain the true health condition of the president,” the source said.

The cost of Yar’Adua’s stay in Saudi
Apart from the medical bill, Nigeria is losing enormously with Yar’Adua’s continued stay in Saudi Arabia. For one, it was gathered that there are retinue of security personnel and other protocol officers, who are collecting out-station allowance.
Beside personnel, the presidential jet, which has been parked in Saudi is incurring huge bill. According to investigation, airports collect landing and parking fees from airlines that fly within and from outside their countries.

For the international flights, payments are made in United States dollars, while the domestic airlines can either pay in dollars or local currency. It was learnt that the charges are in two broad categories; day and night. The night charges are higher than daylight charges because more facilities are deployed for night operations. For day landing, the calculation is in kilograms and done in a simple arithmetic way. For day landing, FAAN charges $0.00909 per kilogram and that is multiplied by the Maximum Takeoff Weight (MTOW) of any airplane. For night landing, it is $0.01364 multiplied by the MTOW and most international airlines come and depart Nigeria in the night.

However, MTOW defers from airplane to airplane as it is determined by the manufacturer of the aircraft. Wide body aircraft automatically has higher MTOW than smaller airplanes. In other words, the type of airplane determines how much the airport authority makes from a particular airline’s airplane.

Investigation revealed MTOW for B747-400, which British Airways, for example, flies into Lagos daily with is 396,890 kg. In other words, BA pays $0.00909x396,890kg, which is $3, 607 or N541,159 per landing. For B777-300, which Delta Air, Air France and Emirates operate, the MTOW is 247, 210 kg and as such for each landing, it pays $2, 247 or N337, 070.

Virgin Atlantic’s Airbus A34-600 has a MTOW of 276, 500 kg and translates to $2, 513 or N377, 007
However, for parking, it is calculated as $0.00114 multiplied by the MTOW and also multiplied by the numbers of hours spent on ground by the aircraft. Airport authorities, in some countries, as in Nigeria, do not charge for the first three hours and that is why most airlines try not to exceed five hours. For instance, if an airline, like Delta Air, with its B777, stays for five hours on ground, the parking charge will be; $0.00114x247, 210 x 2 hours (since the first three hours is free), which is equals to $563 or N84, 545.

The Presidential aircraft, which is a 70-tonne Boeing business jet, has been parked in Saudi Arabia for the 55 days Yar’Adua has been out of the country. If the plane were to be charged for parking fee, at the Nigerian rate, it would be costing the country an average of $6, 756 or N1, 013, 400 per day. Therefore, in the 55 days that Yar’Adua has been in Saudi, the presidential jet has incurred about $371, 580 or N55, 737, 000.
By HENRY UMAHI

Amodu keeps Nations Cup plans secret

Despite playing his final friendly before the Nations Cup behind closed doors, Nigeria coach Shuaibu Amodu refused to show his hand, keeping his cards firmly glued to his chest.

However, one thing his choice and deployment of personnel did show is that the coach is open to tactical flexibility.
Last month, the Super Eagles coach told journalists he would build his team on the foundation of the team that secured the World Cup ticket in Nairobi.

But despite having all but one of those players available, with Femi Ajilore left behind at home, Amodu’s starting line-up was a study in head-scratching puzzle.

Only four players (Enyeama, Nwaneri, Mikel and Yakubu) in his starting line-up against Zambia started in Nairobi.

If the line-up was puzzling, the formation was equally startling. For a man who has favoured 4-3-3 for most of the campaign, Amodu chose to go with a 4-2-4 formation, obviously looking to explore his wide options.
That decision left his two-man midfield exposed to exploitation by the Chipolopolo in the first half, with Media Officer Idah Peterside, admitting that first half play had been patchy.
But the introduction of skipper Nwankwo Kanu in the second half turned things around, Peterside, a former international said.

“Kanu was unbelievable. He came in, and things totally changed. Our passing was better, our movement was better and the team played a lot better than they did in the first half.”
That view was shared by another ex international, former African Player of the Year Kalusha Bwalya, who conceded that the Eagles were in control of the second period.

“It was a good match. I thought the game was tough. Our boys did very well in the first half, but things got tougher in the second half and I thought Nigeria were in control,” the FIFA Technical Committee member stated.

As is usual with Amodu, his starting eleven against Egypt will probably remain a closely guarded secret until game time, but one key clue from Wednesday’s game is that the former BCC coach is prepared to shake up his tactics, and possibly, his personnel on January 12.