Date Published: 02/11/10

AFENIFERE SAYS: JONATHAN’S CONVERSION IS BAD PRECEDENT, WE INSIST ON IMPEACHMENT OF YAR’ADUA

Afenifere berates the National Assembly for the step it has taken in passing the Resolution of Tuesday February 9, 2010 making the Vice President the Acting President. We are especially disappointed that members of the hallowed chambers hinged their decision on a broadcast gleaned from a foreign radio station that was not specifically addressed to them. This clearly departs from the clear provisions of Section 145 of the Constitution.

We appreciate the desperate and urgent need to close a dangerous and embarrassing vacuum, which drove the National Assembly’s Resolution. But we must condemn the way the Legislature has gone about this assignment. This disingenuous application of Jurisprudence is setting the foundation for anarchy and flagrant disobedience of Rule of Law.

The National Assembly cannot by a mere Motion convert the Vice President into an Acting President. The only option open to the National Assembly, if the Federal Executive Council (FEC) will not do the patriotic duty of declaring President Umar Yar’Adua permanently incapacitated, is to impeach the President.

By not sending a letter to the National Assembly before proceeding on his extended medical trip and keeping the Nation in the dark for more than 89 days about his health and his whereabouts, the President has effectively abandoned his office. And the only principled and constitutional action that the National Assembly can take in such a circumstance is to strip him of that office by Impeachment. Promoting Vice President Goodluck Jonathan to Acting President by a mere Motion is begging the issue. It is very unconstitutional. It is merely an attempt by the Senators and Honourable Members of the House of Representatives to escape their constitutional duty. Unfortunately, in the process they have created a bad precedent for the Nation.

Senator Femi Okurounmu

Afenifere General Secretary