This is what is going on in Nigeria now. The country is grappling with a constitutional crisis.
According to the Nigerian constitution, a President can stay outside of the country as long as he needs or wants. There’s no time limit in the constitution.
And President Muhammadu Buhari is sick. He left Nigeria on January 19 for a medical vacation in the United Kingdom.
He sent a letter to the National Assembly that he was transferring power to the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
He informed the lawmakers that he was resuming work on February 6. But on February 5, he sent another letter to the National Assembly from London that he cannot come back. He said doctors advised him to stay back and complete series of tests. But he did not say when we will come back.
It so happened that the constitution does not compel him to stay away for a specific amount of time or lose his seat. In essence, he can stay there as long as he wants, lawyers say.
This is the second time that this will happen to a Nigerian President. The last time in 2010, President Yar’Adua fell ill. He went away and was there for months. There was no time limit.
The National Assembly had to intervene but no one went to court to ask for a time limit for a President out of Nigeria.
Although Nigerians applauded the transfer of power to Goodluck Jonathan, there was no constitutional amendment or act of Parliament.
Nigerians did not learn from the past. Now, the same constitutional crisis is back. While it is not clear how long it will take the President to be back, the fact that he did not say when he’s coming back, has given constitutional lawyers something to talk about and journalists like me something to write.
It is true that while Yar’Adua failed to transfer power to Jonathan, which prompted the National Assembly to intervene by invoking the doctrine of necessity, an acting President in practice is not very powerful in Nigeria.
Often, acting Presidents do not reshuffle cabinets. They are not very well respected by ministers and other close allies of the President.
So while Buhari has transferred power to the Vice President, this may mean that if the President was to remain abroad for a very long time, nothing might happen in terms of governance. Tough decisions cannot be taken.
Simon Ateba is the publisher of simonateba.com. you can read about him on simonateba.com/publisher
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