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
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