Dr. Abdulkareem Onakoya (PhD, FNIMC), 08026621805.
In a leading democracy as displayed by the United States of America on Friday, 19th November, 2021, the constitution was allowed to be the ‘grundnom’ and the ‘only’ relevant guide.
Yesterday, President Joe Biden took a bold step to uphold the constitutional principles of the country when he sent a letter of his ‘incapacity’ (on health grounds) and transfer of powers to the Vice President to continue discharging the duties and functions of the president accordingly.
The letter read in part;
“Today, I will undergo a routine medical procedure requiring sedation. In view of present circumstances, I have determined to transfer temporarily the powers and duties of the office of the President of the United States to the Vice President during the brief period of the procedure and recovery”
According to the United States constitution, this is contained in the section 3 of the 25th amendments to the constitution of the country. He got it right.
In November 2009, when Late President Yar’adua proceeded to the Saudi Arabia on a similar trip, it was after a prolonged stay which forced the ‘doctrine of necessity’ to come to play in the nation despite the necessary provisions of the constitution.
The constitution in section 145 permits and or allows the president to transmit powers and duties of the presidency in a written letter to the senate informing them of his ‘incapacity’ to discharge his duties as the president.
Though, as part of the lacuna/gap in the drafted constitution of 1999, it is not explicitly clear that the president is obliged under the law to do so. However, legal luminaries citing the case of Efuawape Okulate & Ors vs Gbadamosi Adesanya & Ors (2000) FWLR 1552 – 1743 (part 25), the Supreme Court, per Uthman Muhammad, JSC, stated the law at 1695 as follows; “there is no doubt that it is settled law that when interpreting the provisions of the constitution, all its provisions must be read together”.
Pursuant to the above thereto, we can as well make a case for the sections 145, 148 and 7th schedule, section 1(2) and 5(1) of the constitution which would also enjoin the president as the custodian of the law to handover his duties to either the Senate President, Minister and or the Vice President ‘to allow continuity of government and constitutional principles’.
The legal issue was dragged down on governance and it later saw the emergence of the former president, Goodluck Jonathan assuming the presidency in February 2010 after overwhelming votes by the joint session of the two chambers.
Most recently, on 30th March 2021, President Muhammad Buhari embarked on a trip to the UK on health grounds. There were cries from some quarters that he must transmit powers to the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Oshinbajo. The presidency in a swift response by the president’s media aide, Mr. Garba Shehu made it clear that Mr. President was not duty bound to do so.
In his statement, he wrote that; “the president will continue from wherever he is. The requirement of the law is that if the president is going to be absent in the country for about 21 days, then the transmission is warranted. But in this particular instance, it is not warranted”. That was clearly a “Nigerian factor”.
President Joe Biden’s letter showed to the world that there are still best practices in the world. In the letter, he didn’t indicate the time frame but used the word ‘brief’. Brief could be long. In that case, the letter suffices. No vacuum created, governance continues.
The statement credited to Mr. Garba Shehu that the president will ‘continue from wherever he is’ was purely African.
We enjoy power in this part of the world, except in a few countries. The former president of South Africa, Jacob Zuma who resigned on the 15th February, 2018 after a parliamentary votes of no-confidence based on fraud and that of Lesotho, Thomas Thabane in May 2020, of indictment on the death of his ex-wife would not have done so if not because of their issues. Most African leaders prefer to die in power.
The 2023 races have started in Nigeria. We all know who and who have the medical strengths to run for posts. Health is natural. You can’t cheat it. We all know the consequences of the health of our presidents – past and present and their effects on governance.
Health is paramount in all we do. We can’t do anything meaningfully without a sound health. Parading ‘dying and sick’ candidates will further send us back to the political doldrums.
Let’s all know that, most of our leaders will want to constitute nuisance and prefer to disobey the constitution if need arises on health grounds and others. They will definitely hide under the lacuna of section 145.
Our future lies in our decisions !!!