Date Published: 12/23/09

21 st December 2009.

Press Release

Lagos AC Decries Vacuum at the Presidency.

The Lagos State chapter of the Action Congress has expressed dismay at the present state of confusion bedeviling governance in Nigeria due to the uncertainty over the health condition of the president. The party says that it is afraid that the present state of affairs may give room to widespread anarchy and doom if not well handled.

In a release in Lagos, signed by the party’s Lagos State Publicity Secretary of AC, Joe Igbokwe, the party insists that Nigerians must be constantly updated on the fate of the president for it to take certain decisions that would improve the staid condition of the present. It maintains that the nation will certainly pay a huge price if the present unclear situation where no one is certain of who is charge of the country continues.

“Once again, we sympathize with the president, his family and friends on the deteriorating state of health of President Yar’Adua. We wish him quick recovery from the present situation and we sincerely hope that he will soon return to his beat to complete his running tenure.

“However, Lagos AC is appalled that the country is made to lie prostrate with the president on his sick bed in a foreign hospital. We are angry that the entire country is being made to regress as a result of the ill health of the president, just because some of his subalterns feel they must benefit from this unfortunate situation. We do not see any reason why a proper hand over to the Vice President should not be arranged when the president had been away for over two weeks for health reasons and so far, we had not been told when he would be back to the country. We still insist that there is a clear constitutional provision for the type of situation Nigeria has been ran into presently, contrary to the positions of the PDP and the members of the present regime. We want a full recourse to constitutionalism in a situation where the president is not medically fit to run the country, as we have at present.

“Lagos AC notes that those that want to continue benefitting from the present logjam have resorted to full blackmail and sentiment in a matter that requires urgent national attention devoid of sentiment and emotions. We insist that a situation where Nigerians are not aware of who is in charge of Nigeria, in the absence of Yar’Adua is not only abhorrent but very dangerous and must be urgently addressed. We want to state that the PDP and all those that are promoting this inchoate arrangement for selfish purposes would be held responsible for what happens to the country as a result of the present unclear situation in the presidency.

“It is our observation and that of most Nigerians that the country is gradually winding up due to the absence of the president and more because there is no known center of control at the presidency presently. We believe that no serious country could be ran like this especially with the many life-threatening problems afflicting the country from the horrible governance the PDP has ran in the past ten years. We believe that the present state of leadership in the country is an open invitation to chaos and anarchy and we warn that the PDP is running the country into a ditch it can never escape from.

“Lagos AC insists that Nigeria cannot be held hostage by desperate politicians and as such, we demand the proper handover of power by the president pending the time he would be physically fit to take over leadership again. We call on both the Federal Executive Council and the National Assembly to quickly ensure that no needless vacuum is created in the presidency. We insist that law and order form the bedrock of governance and not sentiments and blackmail as those that benefit from the present rot want to force all of us to accept. We want a quick handover of power to the Vice President, who must brace up to the challenges of the presidency contrary to his weak and malleable posture so far.”

Joe Igbokwe.

Publicity Secretary,

Lagos AC.