Why I Didn’t Hand Over To Osinbajo When Travelling In April —Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has said that he decided not to hand
over power to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo when he travelled to the
United Kingdom on a private visit from April 25 to May 5, 2019
because there was no constitutional requirement for him to do so
PUNCH
report.^[1]

The President further stated that the only time he needs to hand
over to Osinbajo is when he is proceeding on leave or going to be
out of the country for more than 21 days.

Buhari said this in a six-paragraph counter-affidavit deposed to
on his behalf by one Mr. Friday Atu, a litigation officer in the
Civil Litigation Department of the Federal Ministry of Justice.

The PUNCH had reported that a Lagos-based lawyer, Inibehe
Effiong, had sued Buhari and the Attorney-General of the Federation
over the President’s failure to hand over power to Osinbajo in
April.

The case, with suit number FHC/L/CS/763/2019, was filed before a
Federal High Court in Lagos.

Effiong asked the court to determine whether in view of the
extant provisions of Section 145 (1) of the Constitution of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), Buhari can validly
proceed on vacation for any length of time without transmitting a
written declaration to the National Assembly to that effect, which
will empower the Vice President to perform the functions of the
President in an acting capacity.

The lawyer asked the court to determine whether Buhari’s action
in proceeding on vacation to the UK from the April 25, 2019 to May
5, 2019 without transmitting the written declaration envisaged in
Section 145 (1) of the constitution to National Assembly is not in
conflict with the provisions of Section 145 (1) of the
constitution.

In his response, however, Buhari stated that the Nigerian
Constitution does not make it mandatory for him to transmit a
written declaration to the President of the Senate and the Speaker
of the House of Representatives to enable the Vice President to act
as President except when his vacation exceeds 21 days.

The affidavit read in part, “It is a fact that the 1999
Constitution (as amended) regulates the performance of the duties
of the President of the federal Republic of Nigeria in situations
where the President is proceeding on vacation or is otherwise
unable to discharge the functions of office.

“That it is a fact that where the President embarks on a
vacation or otherwise is unable to discharge the functions of his
office and fails to transmit a written declaration to that effect,
he will be considered not to have complied with the constitution
(as amended).

“That the time within which the President has to transmit a
written letter to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of
the House of Representatives of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is
21 days.

“That the President’s foreign trip lasted for nine days from
April 25, 2019 to May 5, 2019. The President did not exceed the
21-day period required by the constitution. It is in the interest
of justice to dismiss the claims of the plaintiff.”

Buhari equally asked the court in a preliminary objection to
strike out the suit because the lawyer lacks the locus standi to
institute the case.

The case is before Justice A. O. Faji of the Federal High Court
in Ikoyi, Lagos and has been fixed for Monday, October 7, 2019 for
hearing.

The PUNCH reports that in the past, Buhari had been known to
hand over power to his deputy anytime he was travelling out of the
country for unofficial engagements.

For instance, when the President travelled to London on a
working leave on August 3, 2018 and returned on the 18th, spending
a total of 16 days, he handed over to Osinbajo.

It was while Osinbajo was acting President during the same
period that he sacked the Director-General of the Department of
State Services, Lawal Daura, a move that was said to have been
vehemently opposed by those close to the President.

Incidentally, since Daura’s sacking over a year ago, the
President has not transferred power to Osinbajo again.

The President has in recent weeks curtailed the powers given to
the Vice-President by first removing him as the head of the
economic advisory team and asking him to seek special approvals
before taking certain actions.

There have been reports that the cabal which controls the
Presidency is opposed to Osinbajo’s purported 2023 presidential
bid.

Subscribe ToNairalaw News!

Tenure Elongation: FIRS Boss, Fowler Dragged to
Court
…To return all salaries, earnings during ‘illegal’ stay
in office

A Federal High Court sitting in Kano has ordered the appearance
of the Chairman Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr Babatunde
Fowler to appear before it on October 7, 2019 and show cause why he
should not be sacked for overstaying his tenure which expired on
August 18, 2019.

The presiding judge of the High Court, Justice Lewis Allagoa
after hearing a plaintiff’s counsel on September 23, 2019, also
ordered that the defendant should be served in Abuja and filed
their defence within five days.

In court documents obtained by PRNigeria^[1] with Suit No
FHC/KN/CS/141/2019, the FIRS Boss was dragged to Court over his
continued stay in office after the expiration of tenure.

The Plaintiff, Mr. Stanley Okwara, in a suit filed on September
18, 2019 and obtained on Saturday, also joined the Attorney General
of the Federation as the second defendant.

In the originating summon, the two defendants were given 30 days
to explain why Fowler who was appointed on the 20th August, 2015,
has not ceased to hold office as the Chairman of FIRS after the
20th August, 2019 in accordance with the “decision of the Supreme
Court…and having regard to the combined provisions of Sections 3(2)
(a), Section 4(a) and Section 11 (a)” of the agency.

The Plaintiffs also sought to know whether the continuous stay
of Fowler in the office “is not illegal in view of the decision of
the Supreme Court in Ogbuinyinya & Ors. vs. Obi Okudo &
Ors. (1979) All N.L.R. 105 and having regard to the combined
provisions of Sections of the FIRS [Establishment] Act, 2007.

In the same vein, Okwara in the suit filed through Johnmary C.
Jideobi & Co, sought other reliefs including: “A declaration
that the 1st Defendant has ceased to hold office as the Chairman of
the Federal Inland Revenue Service after the 20th of August, 2019”;
and that his continuous stay in the office is illegal.

He further sought “an order barring the 1st Defendant from
further holding himself out as, laying claim to or exercising the
powers and functions of, the Executive Chairman of Federal Inland
Revenue Service unless he is re-appointed by the President of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“An order directing the 1st Defendant to return forthwith to the
Treasury Single Account of the Federation all the salaries,
emoluments and such other kindred monetary benefits he has been
drawing on the purse of the Federal Inland Revenue Service and file
an affidavit of compliance within 14 days after the delivery of
judgment in this suit.”

The Plaintiff also asked that Fowler be caused ordered to obey
any other decision that the Court may deem fit to make in the
entire circumstances of the case.

By PRNigeria^[2]