It Will Shock You To Discover The Powers Of Acting President,Yemi Osibanjo At The Moment

It won't be totally out-of-place to stress that the current medical status of President Muhammadu Buhari, 74, has remained vague and inexplicit.
As it is, the prolonged absence of Mr president is supposed to raise some dust as the people are eager and as a matter of fact entitled to the knowledge of the 'how-about' and 'where-about' of their leader with whom they entrusted their mandate and power to control their common wealth.
Be that as it may, the situation we have in Nigeria today is a unique one. A very unique one. Ofcourse, I know you may wish to liken what we have today in the nation to that of Yar'Adua/Jonathan scenario but one thing is worthy of note in the latter.
Recall, it took what was then dubbed the 'doctrine' of necessity' to make Jonathan the substantive President shortly after the passing of President Yar'Adua. In what we have today, President Buhari who is away in London, UK for an extended medical vacation willfully and personally handed over POWER to the Vice President, Yemi Osibanjo as required of him by section 145 of the Nigerian Constitution.
For what it's worth, the indefinite postponement of Buhari's return and the many failed attempts to get the Nigeria's number one Citizen address his people revives memories of the situation seven years ago, when president Umaru Yar’Adua fell ill and later died while receiving treatment abroad.
Back in 2010, when Yar’Adua passed on, his followers fought hard to halt Jonathan, the then Vice president from taking over. On the front burner, as at the record time was the argument that the north would be short-changed if a southerner was allowed to complete Yar’Adua’s term of office.
It took the swift and pragmatic intervention of the National assembly to douse the tension that loomed by getting Jonathan to assume power. A major political brouhaha was again averted.
What if Buhari were unable to carry on? What if he were to die in office?
While we wish Mr.president well, it is factual to stress that the conversations about his current health status in the public domain is laden with “what if?” scenarios: what if Buhari were unable to carry on? What if he were to die in office?
What if the north once again lost out on power to the south? How would it affect the choice of candidates for the next presidential elections in 2019?
Pundits have markedly dismissed the possibility of a replay of the Yar’Adua/Jonathan scenario.
Some political analysts are of the opinion that the slew of photographs recently released showing Buhari meeting delegations of well-wishers in London should go a long way to show he was not as ill as some have suggested. While others argue that Buhari’s illness had been politicised.
The Constitution Is Very Clear On How Powerful The Acting President Is
In Nigeria today, Our constitution is supreme because we practice constitutional government and the 1999 Constitution as Amended is Our grundnorm.
Without subversion one would boldly say that the Nigerian constitution is one of the best constitution among nations where democracy may be found.
“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 provision above is quite clear and fitly soots what we have on ground in the counrty. Therefore there exist no vacuum. The Vice President becomes the Acting President. As a matter of fact, now we have Acting President Osibanjo on the saddle, we are safe to confidently state our demands before him and expect result.
The Constitutional position on when a President is said to be incapable of discharging his constitutional duties is well spelt out in the constitution. Therefore, the Federal Executive Council can be compelled via a court order to ascertain the medical status of Mr President as to conclusively determine his medical status.It is also interesting to note the Constitution recommend numbers of medical personnel that can confirm the medical fitness of the President.
The Acting President possesses full Executive Powers of the federation and as such has the capacity to discharge the functions of the President. It is therefore imperative to note that there is no Executive Powers the Acting President cannot exercise.
Our Duties To The Acting President Viz Avis His Duties To Us
As responsible citizens of our great nation, our duties does not involve distracting or confusing the Acting President from discharging his duties. Lawful protest is key as it is a constitutional right which must be constructively engaged on issues of National importance.
On the flip side, The Acting President need to check the activities of political appointees - the Ministers and Directors of Federal Agencies where necessary do the needful i.e to reshuffle the cabinet or even disengage the unruly or uncooperative member(s).
At this juncture, it will be justice to say that the interest of the over 160 million Nigerians must be paramount, well protected and nurtured and since the Mr. President is not in sight lead the nation out of recession as it were, it is okay to allow him to care for his health while we consciously give our support to the Acting President to effectively govern the country and chart a new course that will get us all to the wealthy place again.
Some are of the opinion that for the few days Osibanjo has been in power, a lot have changed as he has been seen touring the Niger Delta states notorious for militancy on town hall meetings targeted on brokering peace in the flashpoint region and strengthening the amnesty programmes of The Federal Government.
A stride worthy of note. A wonderful start one must say!
The Acting President also scored a major point by finally forwarding the name of the Acting CJN, Justice Walter Onnoghen.
We are thankful to God that this has happened. It would have created a lot of uncertainties not just in our judiciary but in our legal order. Although it has happened before, this one has different implication looking at it from the regional, religious, and political points of view and the uncertainty that our judiciary would have faced.