President Yar’Adua has been at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia since November 23, 2009 receiving treatment for acute pericaditis.

In the resolution passed after three hours of deliberations in closed door, the upper legislative house urged the President to “formally notify the National Assembly of his medical vacation pursuant to Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria”.

Meanwhile, governors of the five states in the South-east geopolitical zone rose from a one-day meeting yesterday in Enugu with a resolution that President Yar’Adua has not breached any constitution by being away from the country for more than two months as a result of ill-health.

The governors dismissed the call for Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan to be made an Acting President as misplaced.

No timeline was attached to the Senate resolution, which is said to be aimed at giving the President a soft landing in the light of the controversy that has trailed his medical trip abroad without transferring power to Vice-President Jonathan.

According to inside sources, under the plan, President Yar’Adua is expected to forward the letter to the National Assembly and by so doing empowers Jonathan to act as president, but the President steps back to power once he gets well.

Senate President David Mark, who summarised the proceedings with the three resolutions approved at the closed session, put a question to revalidate them (resolutions) when he reported progress in plenary.

The second resolution approved by the Senate was the mandate given to the Senate Ad Hoc Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution to propose an amendment to Section 145 to “resolve the flaws exposed by the present circumstance”.

Legal experts said the lacuna noticeable in the section is the fact that the provision makes the transmission of the letter discretionary on the President and again did not envisage a situation where a President will be too sick as to be unable to transmit such a letter.

The Senate, through the third resolution, urged Nigerians to “continue to pray for the speedy recovery” of President Yar’Adua.

THISDAY gathered that like the five-hour closed session it held on Tuesday on the briefing by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Mahmud Yayale Ahmed on Yar’Adua’s health, yesterday’s session witnessed heated arguments.

At the session, which began at 11.05am and ended at 1.58pm, senators were said to have argued for and against passing a resolution compelling Yar’Adua to transmit a letter to the National Assembly to enable Jonathan to step in as acting President.

It was learnt that those rooting for empowering Jonathan to step in as acting President were more than those opposing it, but Mark was said to have deftly guided the chamber in the direction of a political resolution.

Chief Whip, Senator Kanti Bello (PDP, Katsina), was said to have broached the idea of a political solution in the heat of the arguments and counter arguments, which the Senate embraced.

THISDAY learnt that if the Senate had voted on the matter on Tuesday, the senators rooting for the activation of Section 145 on the vacation letter would have carried the day and would have put a time-limit to the letter, which would have embarrassed the Presidency.

Senators opposed to a resolution on Section 145 to achieve a Jonathan acting Presidency had advanced the argument canvassed on Tuesday that the Abuja High Court judgment on Sections 5 and 148 delegating or assigning presidential functions to the Vice-President should be endorsed.

Sources said the Deputy Senate Leader, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba (SAN), and Deputy Minority Leader, Senator Olorunnimbe Mamora, had questioned the court judgments, which, according to them, were not agreed to by many lawyers.

They were said to have argued that the judgment on Sections 5 and 148, together with the one asking the Executive Council of the Federation to meet and take a decision on the President’s health, was appealable and therefore the Senate could not hinge its decision on it.

They had advised that the resolution be couched in the form that was approved finally at the session.

But THISDAY learnt some of the senators had different reasons for their position on the need to transmit a vacation letter to the National Assembly, with some out to embarrass state governors rooting to replace them in the Senate.

Briefing Senate correspondents, Chairman, Senate Committee on Information and Media, Senator Ayogu Eze, said: “For the past two days, five hours yesterday (Tuesday) and about three hours today (yesterday), the Senate had been engaged in very intense debate and examination of all the issues involved - constitutional, social, political and at the end of an exhaustive deliberation, we have decided to speak like statesmen because even though there were certain limitations we have in the constitution.

“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 decision we took today (yesterday).

“I also need to emphasise that there has never been any division along the lines that has been speculated in the newspapers, either politically, tribally, ethnically or even against personalities.

“The Senate has been treading carefully and looking at all the issues. 

The Senate has been united behind the Constitution. All the time you have been speculating, there has been only one group and that was the group that is pro-constitution and the group that is pro-constitution is the group of 109 Senators.”

Eze said further: “Today (yesterday), you saw when the question was put, it was a resounding applause because all the issues have been considered; all the views have been taken on board, and people have had the opportunity to ventilate and express themselves and have benefited from the wealth of expression that came from the different Senators.

“We are satisfied that what we have done now is in the best interest of the country to ease the tension and move Nigeria forward and that is why we have resolved to urge the President to honour Section 145 by notifying the National Assembly that he has proceeded on medical vacation, even though it is going to be in arrears as it were.

“We have come to the conclusion that it is right that the spirit of that provision be respected.  We also asked that this matter be committed to our committee on the review of the 1999 Constitution so that they will take into consideration the kind of confusion and the kind of unanticipated problem that arose from Section 145 because of its lack of specificity.”

He continued: “If the sections were specific, this would have been a matter that would have been behind us and of course we also urged Nigerians to continue to pray for the speedy recovery of Mr. President.

“We also urge you the pressmen and other Nigerians to join the praying train.  We all wish the President well, and we wish him speedy recovery and we all wish the Nigerian people well.  We have acted in the best interest of the Nigerian people.”

But asked why there was no timeline attached to the resolution urging Yar’Adua to notify the National Assembly of his medical vacation, Eze responded, “When we looked at that issue, we considered that what we are trying to do was to find a political solution to a very difficult problem and, in doing so, you do not exacerbate the situation by giving ultimatum and sounding like a military institution.

“I believe that the notice from the Senate on the need for Section 145 to be respected is strong enough and I believe that we have delivered the message, the entire message that needs to be delivered.”

On what the Senate would do if Yar’Adua fails to respect the resolution, he said: “I think that it will be irresponsible on the part of the Senate to begin to anticipate what the President will do or not do.

“I think that we have put the matter the way we should put it and we expect that it will produce result.  We do not want to begin to engage in dangerous speculations that will further heighten tension in the land; and we are convinced that the right thing will be done.”

In a six-point communiqué read to newsmen after their meeting at the Government House Enugu, Chairman of the forum and Governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi, the governors warned those commenting on the President’s long absence to avoid overheating the polity but to first consider the corporate existence of the country.

“Mr. President has not violated any constitutional provision. That he is away is not by his own making and there is no constitution that says you must hand over power to somebody else once you are sick. We still have a president who has not been declared to be permanently incapacitated.

“He remains the head of government and has the right to decide how he should run the government. He mustn’t hand over to the Vice-President because it hasn’t come to that,” they stated, while urging Nigerians to rather unite in prayers for the quick recovery of the president than making unguarded utterances that were capable of causing disquiet in the polity.

GUARDIAN

Thursday, January 28, 2010              

Senate demands vacation letter from Yar'Adua

• He's still fit to rule, says FEC
  From Madu Onuorah, Alifa Daniel, Azimazi Momoh Jimoh, Abuja

  A FIRM decision on President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua's absence was taken yesterday by the Senate which, at the end of a marathon two-day closed-door debate, urged him to notify it in writing about his 65-day medical vacation.

  The resolution which was taken after another three hours closed session came just at the Upper Legislative Chamber directed its 44-member Constitution Review Committee to put in place all legislative measures to resolve what it called flaws in section 145 of the Constitution.

  But the Federal Executive Council (FEC) yesterday declared that despite his long absence for medical treatment in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Yar'Adua was capable of discharging the functions of his office.

  The FEC also commended Vice President Goodluck Jonathan's "leadership initiative" in visiting the affected areas and victims of the Jos crisis.

  It lauded him for taking measures to "quickly bring the situation under control."

  The Senate in a resolution read by its president, David Mark, also urged Nigerians to continue to pray for Yar'Adua speedy recovery.

  He said: "We have been in closed doors to discuss matters of public importance and we have resolved as follows:

• To urge the president, commander in chief of the armed forces of the federal republic of Nigeria, His Excellency, Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar'adua (GCFR), to formerly notify the National Assembly of his medical vacation, pursuant to Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

   

• Direct the Senate committee on Review of the 1999 Constitution, to propose an amendment to Section 145 of 1999 Constitution to resolve apparent flaws exposed by the current circumstance.

   

• Urge Nigerians to continue to pray for speedy recovery of the President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces."

  Section 145 of the constitution reads:

  " 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."

  It was gathered that the Senate did not issue an ultimatum to Adua yesterday because it was afraid it would lose face at the end of the ultimatum he was not back in the country.

  "Constitutionally what can we do? Please tell me. The last time somebody gave an impression that we issued an ultimatum to the United States government, it was speedily corrected because if we issued such an ultimatum, what powers do we have over another government. To put a time to it is to box the Senate corner. The situation is political," a senior officer of the Upper House said.

  He added that the lawmakers chose the political path so that the National Assembly does not suffer any embarrassment.

  "It is up to them, the Northern political group to take a decision on whether to bring the President back or to persuade him to resign because in the event of the Vice President being asked to act, he becomes a sole administrator, and their position is that they will lose out completely. They are suggesting that a better option is to get him to resign so that the North does not lose out. The ball is now in the court of that group," an insider said.

  It was gathered that the Senate leadership was swayed to take a quick decision yesterday because some lawmakers were in the process of taking signatures when it was obvious that a consensus had been built and it appeared that almost everyone, except a few, had backed the group asking for Yar'Adua to transmit a letter.

  But in a briefing, the Senate said that it exercised a lot of restraint in arriving at the resolution pointing out that that was why it did not give the President any ultimatum within which to transmit the letter.

  Briefing journalists at the end of the session yesterday, the Senate's spokesman, Ayogu Eze, said: "We are satisfied that what we have done now is what we think is in the best interest of the country to ease the tension and move Nigeria forward. Even though there are certain limitations we have in the constitution, we embodied the mandate of the people of Nigeria and we tried to reflect their aspirations and their desires in whatever we do and that is what has guided the decisions we took today.

  The senate has been threading carefully and looking at all the issues. The senate has been united behind the constitution. Today you saw when the question was put. It was a resounding applause. All the consultations have been taken into consideration, all the views have been taken on board, people have had the opportunity to ventilate and express themselves and we have benefitted from the wealth of the expressions that came from the senators." - materials deleted...