Following the rumoured death of President Muhammadu Buhari, a.Constitutional Lawyer and Human Rights Activist, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN) has asked the President to clear the air by addressing Nigerians physically on Skype.
“For crying out loud, let President Muhammadu Buhari address the nation physically on Skype. Let us see him. He is President of Nigeria, father of the nation. He belongs to government and is holding the nation to unspeakable ransom”, he said.
“The President lost his anonymity and individuality the day he was voted into office as President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The only privacy he has is in his wife’s kitchen, his parlour and the other room”, Chief Ozekhome stated.
The Senior Advocate told the Tribune Online that the continued stay of President Muhammadu Buhari abroad has some legal and political implications.
He said the President’s extension of his medical/holiday period abroad, “keeps the nation on ethno-religious tenterhooks, dangerous precipice, uncomfortable tension, anxiety and a dark pall on government and governance.
“It reminds one of the dark better forgotten days of the Yuridia brouhaha when what late Dora Akunyilu described as “the cabal” unceremoniously seized the reins of government and held the nation to unspeakable ransom’, he added.
On the legal implications, the constitutional lawyer said, the constitution provides that once the president transmits his absence or inability to act to the National Assembly, then the Vice President (VP) acts in his place.
According to him, it means that the VP takes full control of governance and government apparatus, thus leaving no vacuum in governance.
The special adviser to the president on media and publicity, Femi Adeshina on Sunday said there is no need for President Buhari to pressure himself into returning since there was an acting president in place
Adesina said that since there was Yemi Osinbajo in place as acting president, Buhari could take as much time as needed for an adequate rest.
Recall that the President departed Abuja for the United Kingdom on Thursday, January 19, 2017 on a ten-day leave as a part of his annual vacation after formally handing over mantle of leadership of the country to his Vice President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo.
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