Why He Didn't Go to Obudu, Dodan Barracks, As Announced
From Martins Oloja (Abuja Bureau Chief)
PRESIDENT Umaru Musa Yar'Adua resumes duties tomorrow from a two-week vacation, with several meetings scheduled for the day.
Presidential spokesperson, Mr. Olusegun Adeniyi, who confirmed this on a telephone last night, said the president's programme of activities was already loaded for tomorrow.
In response to The Guardian inquiry about the president's whereabouts, Adeniyi said: "The President will resume on Monday and hopefully the National Assembly will also conclude the passage of the 2009 Budget. He has several meetings already lined up for Monday."
The president's short leave of absence has had a ring of controversies about it. First was his failure to inform the National Assembly in writing that he was proceeding on vacation, as required by the Constitution.
Thus, the Vice President, Goodluck Jonathan, was deprived of the opportunity to act as Acting President.
Section 145 of the Constitution states that:
"Whenever the President transmits to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives a written declaration that he is proceeding on vacation or that he is otherwise unable to discharge the functions of his office, until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary such functions shall be discharged by the Vice-President as Acting President."
Interestingly, the Senate had hinted that the President was procedurally wrong to have gone on leave without transmitting the development to it (Senate) as provided by the 1999 Constitution.
The debate on legality of handing over power to the Vice President while the president proceeds on leave came up 10 years into the return of constitutional democracy in Nigeria (1999-2009). No such constitutional issue had cropped up in the past.
In the same vein, speculations had been rife earlier that President Yar'Adua was planning to travel to Wisbaden, near Frankfurt, Germany for medical treatment. But there was no indication as at press time that he, indeed, travelled out during the two-week vacation.
It was even surmised that no power was really handed over to the Vice President, who presided over two federal executive councils during which far-reaching decisions were taken including one of budget matters.
Besides, the expectation of those who have been warming up to see President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua in Dodan Barracks, Lagos and the Obudu Cattle Ranch in Cross River, as part of his holiday, might have been dashed.
Mr. Adeniyi had outlined the President's itinerary during the planned leave including a short stay in Dodan Barracks and Obudu where he was expected to read some books.
The development (holiday) had sparked off a flurry of suggestions in some newspaper columns about some books that the President should read. One cynical columnist suggested that he should read among others: Taking Charge and Taming Corrupt Spouses.
Asked last night why the President could not be sighted in Lagos and Obudu, Adeniyi explained that a chain of events that came like a bolt from the blues conspired to frustrate the plan.
His explanation: "The President was to go to Lagos and from there head for Obudu by the weekend but several events conspired to change the plan. First, the Governor of Yobe State, Senator Mamman Alli, died in the wee hours of last week Tuesday.
"After directing that the Deputy be sworn in immediately, the President said he would want to attend the burial, which, we assumed then, would be either Tuesday or Wednesday."
He continued: "As it would happen, the remains did not arrive (in) Nigeria until Friday morning when the burial held. That same day, Vice President Goodluck Jonathan left for the African Union Summit in Ethiopia and did not return until Wednesday morning. With that, the President decided to stay back in Abuja.
"The day before, on Tuesday, the President met with the Steering Committee on Global Economic Crisis. So, with those schedules the plan to spend about a week in Obudu could not materialise."
Adeniyi also explained how the planned mission to Obudu came about: "The President had pledged, when we went to Obudu last year, that it is a place he would like to have an annual vacation.
"But there are still contending issues, which would be sorted out with the Cross River State government to make it secure for the President.
"The former Governor, Mr. Donald Duke, was, in fact, telling me the other day that it is the Presidency that has not taken custody of the Presidential Resort because right now, it is being used by holiday people who can pay for it. That is not the original intention behind the idea.
"The hand-over details will, however, be sorted out this year so that the Resort, which is actually built on a secluded and vantage area at the Ranch, can become a place of refuge not only for this President but also future ones."
