Minister of State Labour and Employment and spokesman of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council, Festus Keyamo and the Delta State Governor and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Vice Presidential candidate, Peter Okowa have expressed varied positions on provisions of Section 130 (2) of the 1999 Constitution.
Okowa was reacting to the submission of the APC VP candidate, Senator Kashim Shettima at the Nigeria Bar Association summit in Lagos where he said as VP, he would be saddled with addressing the security challenges facing the country while Tinubu would assign himself with fixing the economy.
Tribune Online checks revealed that the 1999 constitution vests the exclusive authority on security on the incumbent President who automatically is the Commander-in-chief on the Armed Forces.
Section 130 (2) reads: “The President shall be the Head of State, the Chief Executive of the Federation and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federation”.
The PDP VP candidate in a submission in a trending video however expressed strong reservations as he noted that Shettima’s remarks would be a breach of the Constitution and a reversal of role.
He said:”I don’t want to talk about their policies. If the vice-president will take charge of security, is he (the president) not going to preside over the security council at the federal level? I don’t understand that. Because there is a commander-in-chief. Is there a reversal in position?”
The APC presidential spokesman in a submission on his Twitter handle however said there was nothing untoward in the position taken by Senator Shettima.
Keyamo Twitted that under the 1999 Constitution, a sitting President could assign any responsibility to his VP or any of his Ministers.
“I respectfully disagree, your Excellency. Under the 1999 Constitution, the President may assign any responsibility within his purview to either his VP or Ministers. This may include some aspects of security issues too. That is why, for instance, you have a Minister of Defence.
“It is possible, your Excellency, that in the well-known forward-thinking nature of @officialABAT, possible assignment of some responsibilities in this regard have been discussed with his VP-to-be & H.E Shettima just can’t wait to hit the ground running. This is not absurd, sir.
“When H.E Shettima says ‘taking charge’, it’s in the context of discharging responsibilities assigned to him by @officialABAT. But he will report back to his boss just as your principal Atiku Abubakar was reporting to OBJ since he wasn’t in a position to make any final decision.”
ALSO READ FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
and then