By Carl Umegboro
President Muhammadu Buhari officially embarked, at first instance, on a ten-day
official leave and on its expiration, sought an extension on medical grounds.
According to information from the Presidency, Buhari sought for an extension to
enable him complete series of tests and medications as prescribed by his United
Kingdom-based physicians. Since then, all manner of ugly insinuations and
assumptions have trailed the development with a good number of people calling
for Buhari to address the nation to rebut sundry allegations. Even in the United Kingdom
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| *Buhari |
Even after the Special Adviser
to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, tried to douse tension
by assuring the nation of the president’s good health, it sounded as if water
was poured on a stone. The Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), who
stands to personally benefit more if the President is permanently incapacitated
as alleged, as provided for in Section 146 of 1999 Constitution, Federal
Republic of Nigeria, confidently testified that Buhari was hale and hearty. His
explanations were regarded by some people as the recitation of Hollywood
scripts.
Some claimed that as the
President of the country, and by implication, a public officer, his whereabouts
and health status must always be public knowledge. Incidentally, the President
formally took some days from his statutory annual vacation as stipulated by the
laws of the country. To start with, official leave implies a temporary
disengagement from official duties and position. It, therefore, connotes that
President Buhari is at the moment officially not the head of government by
virtue of his letter to the National Assembly for temporary disengagement from
duty as the President.
The
sovereignty of the nation is, therefore, on Osinbajo, until further notice. As a matter of fact, by virtue of Section 145 of the Nigerian
Constitution, Buhari lacks the legitimacy to sign valid documents as the
President of the country until he transmits to the National Assembly his
willingness and readiness to take back power.
This is all about sovereignty
and clearly indicative that Buhari is not accountable to anyone over his
whereabouts or health condition until after his vacation. With Osinbajo
temporarily at the helm of affairs, it is clear that there is no vacuum in the
presidency. Without
a doubt, from Buhari’s request for extension of leave, and his
non-specification of the duration of the extension, it is only logical that his
leave will aggregately end on, or prior to, the end his statutory period of
annual vacation.
Interestingly, by his
transmission to the National Assembly, automatically, the Vice President,
Osinbajo stepped into the shoes of the president which required no ceremony.
Thus, there is no vacancy or lacuna of any sort. As it stands, all decisions
taken by Osinbajo as the acting President are as valid as if Buhari took them
while on seat. The President albeit is a person but more of an office.
Democracy is not commonsensical, instead, it is a constitutional institution.
Therefore, as long as the provisions of the constitution are adhered to, no
blunder is committed anywhere. The polity would have been sensibly heated up if
Buhari adopted ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo’s style and left the shores of
the country without following the conventional procedures of official temporary
handover. Obasanjo, due to the cat-and-mouse relationship with his Vice, Atiku
Abubakar, then embarked on vacation but left office for his political
appointees instead of the Vice President, ostensibly targeted for settling
political scores and supremacy battle.
As a matter of fact, Buhari’s
whereabouts as the President would only become a serious issue after exhausting
his annual vacation. At that point, the National Assembly, which exercises
oversight functions, would have justifications to demand his whereabouts or
state of health.
At the moment, nobody has
powers to disturb his rest as Section 37 of the Constitution, which provides
for the right to Privacy for all citizens, as a fundamental human right, is
available and applicable to Muhammadu Buhari, too. Even if he faces health
challenges, he is entitled to privacy until his annual vacation, which was
approved by the National Assembly, is over.
It is unjustifiable, impious,
iniquitous and inhuman for citizens to add more stress on him. If after his
official leave, he remains unavailable, certainly, questions must be asked but
for now, he deserves to enjoy his vacation without stress. As a conventional
norm, even in the private sector for instance, a staff who, after exhausting
his official leave does not report for duty, will likely be issued a query and
sanctioned. Thus, to tirelessly demand for someone on leave to show his face or
say something, is the height of naivety.
An official on leave,
irrespective of the office occupied, is not accountable to anyone on official
matters except Buhari’s official leave is distinct from other citizens’ annual
leave. Some people even erroneously compared Buhari’s case with that of the
deceased former President, Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua, who then already exhausted
his statutory annual leave but remained offshore with no clear information on
his whereabouts.
Admitted, Buhari could be ill;
fortunately, the Constitution never frowned at the ill-health
of the president, except terminal illness, which shall be tantamount to
certified permanent incapacitation.
Overall, the most outstanding
attributes of democracy are electoral franchise and time limit; no one rules
forever. By implication, if Buhari’s government and party fail to meet the
expectations of the citizenry, fight back at the next poll with your votes. It
successfully happened on Goodluck Jonathan and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
I believe that’s the greatest
record Jonathan set in Nigeria Ghana
*Umegboro writes from Lagos
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