Attempts by the ailing President Umaru Yar’Adua to continue to rule Nigeria from his sick bed in Saudi Arabia received another major blow early this morning as governors of the 36 states of Nigeria asked the upper chamber of the National Assembly to begin the process of making Vice President, Goodluck Jonathan the Acting President.
Briefing newsmen on the outcome of their meeting held at the Kwara State governor’s lodge, Governor Bukola Saraki, Chairman of the Governors’ Forum said the state executives will meet with the leadership of the National Assembly to put an end to the power vacuum in the country.
According to Saraki, the governors will convince the National Assembly to pass a resolution that will make Jonathan the Acting President.
This is a major departure from the position the governors, especially those elected on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), have held before now. It is also another setback to efforts by the pro-Yar’Adua group to ensure that he will continue to hold on to power despite his medical incapacitation.
The Senate during its last sitting passed a resolution in which it asked Nigeria’s President to transmit a letter to the National Assembly that he is outside the country for medical vacation according to Section 145 of the Constitution.
Also, the Minister of Information and Communications, Professor Dora Akunyili at last Wednesday’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presented a memo to her colleagues in the cabinet in which she asked Yar’Adua to comply with Section 145, which will allow Jonathan to assume the status of an Acting President.
Also, Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State has insited in several media interviews, that Yar’Adua should comply with Section 145 of the Constitution by writing a letter to the National Assembly.
Last week, a group of eminent Nigerians led by Second Republic President, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, had also in a memo to the National Assembly asked the lawmakers to ensure that Yar’Adua complies with section 145 of the Constitution, to enable Jonathan become Acting President.
Many analysts believe that the intervention of the governors, who were instrumental to Yar’Adua’s emergence in 2007 as president, may break the backs of the pro-Yar’Adua group who insisted that the ailing President does not need to transmit a letter to indicate his absence from the country.
However, the governors from the Northern states, under the aegis of Northern Governors Forum, said after their meeting in Kaduna yesterday that Jonathan can become the acting President regardless of whether there is a written communication from Yar’Adua or not.
Chairman of Northern Governors Forum, Dr. Muazu Aliyu of Niger State told journalists that every level of government must continue to support Jonathan until Yar’Adua returns from his medical trip.
