President Buhari On Another Illegal And Unconstitutional “Private Visit”? By Festus Ogun

Barely two days after returning to Nigeria from Russia,
President Muhammadu Buhari is again on another trip to Saudi Arabia
to attend the Economic Forum of the Future Investment Initiative.
As if that is not enough, Mr. Femi Adesina, the President’s Special
Adviser on Media and Publicity said “at the end of the summit,
President Buhari will on Saturday, November 2, 2019 proceed to the
United Kingdom on a private visit. He is expected to return to
Nigeria on November 17, 2019.” In effect, the President be on a
“private visit” to UK for good two weeks.

I have always wondered if Nigerians elected a President or
tourist. The level at which President Buhari embark on fruitless
travels that are in no way contributing meaningfully to the lives
of ordinary Nigerians should give every genuine lover of Nigeria a
cause to worry. Whereas the economic situation right here in
Nigeria is getting worse on a daily basis, the only thing the
President does is to keep moving from a country to the other. With
due respect, that doesn’t show seriousness in leadership.

You cannot expect quality governance from a leader who doesn’t
stay at his “duty post”. Governance is beyond embarking on jamboree
trips that add little or nothing to the deplorable condition of the
State. With Buhari, the Aso Rock Villa is now more of cosmetic
value. Or if you argue that it is not a necessity for him to stay
in his office and get things properly done, what is the essence of
the Office of the President in the first place? Ours is everything
but a serious President.

It is on record that Buhari, during his first term, was away
from the country for about 404 days (a year and 39 days) as
reported by The Punch. That is spending over a year away from a
country you govern – out of the four allotted years. In my
estimation, that is not responsible enough. This is Buhari’s second
term and he appears to be putting all efforts in place to outscore
his first term’s scoresheet on, rather useless, foreign trips. Only
an enemy of the Nigerian State would cheer-up such a leader caught
guilty in such leadership misdemeanor. A nation in crisis like ours
needs a leader who will be at home to work out the challenges
currently rocking the country. Sadly, we have an Ajala Travel as
President.

Embarrassingly, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
is yet again embarking on a private visit to the UK without
observing the provisions of laws in this regard. The house, right
at home, is burning and the President is embarking on another trip
to UK on a mission that is not known to Nigerians whereas we are
going to foot the bills through our collective resources. Apart
from being illegal and unconstitutional, the private visit to UK is
immoral.

Under our law, the President cannot embark on a vacation or any
“private visit” whatsoever without formally informing the National
Assembly. Section 145(1)(2) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria, amended 2011 (herein referred to as “the
Constitution” or “1999 Constitution”) provides that:
(1) WHENEVER the President is proceeding on vacation or is
otherwise unable to discharge the functions of his office, he SHALL
transmit a written declaration to the President of the Senate and
the Speaker of the House of Representatives to that effect, and
until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary,
the Vice-President shall perform the functions of the President as
Acting President.
(2) In the event that the President is unable or fails to transmit
the written declaration mentioned in subsection (1) of this section
within 21 days, the National Assembly shall, by a resolution made
by a simple majority of the vote of each House of the National
Assembly, mandate the Vice-President to perform the functions of
the office of the President as Acting President until the President
transmits a letter to the President of the Senate and Speaker of
the House of Representatives that he is now available to resume his
functions as President.

The purport of this provision is very clear and has raised no
ambiguity of any sort. As subsection 1 provides, it is mandatory
for the President to formally inform the National Assembly when he
wishes to proceed on vacation or when he is unable to discharge his
function. Notably, the provision also wears the Vice President with
the Presidential robe once the letter has been transmitted to the
National Assembly, regardless of whether the President included it
in his letter or not.

The word “shall” used in the section means must. In John v.
Igbo-Ekiti LGA (2013) 7 PT.1352 P.1 at 16, it was held that
whenever the word “shall” is used in an enactment, it connotes
imperativeness and gives no room for discretion on the part of the
person whom the Constitutional duty is imposed. Importantly, the
Supreme Court in Rabiu v. State (1981) 2 NCLR 293 held the need for
a liberal and purposive approach in constitutional
interpretation.

The question that should agitate the mind is whether the two
week private visit amounts to vacation as captured under section
145(1). Wikipedia defines vacation to mean “a leave of absence from
a regular occupation”. The President, leaving his official and
constitutional duties for good two weeks cannot be regarded as a
“relatively short absence” but a vacation. The unjustifiable
absence from office for days cannot be given any other meaning than
vacation as used in the section. It is a constitutional infraction
for the President to vacate the country – leaving his official
duties – to a private mission for more than a week. There is a huge
difference between embarking on an official assignment that lasts
for days and merely jetting out of the country for reasons best
known to him. The former cannot be treated as vacation and no
letter is required to the National Assembly. But, in the latter,
the letter must be written and constitutes vacation.

Again, does a public servant has a right to ‘private
visit’ under our Constitutional jurisprudence?

The right to private and family life of all citizens are
guaranteed under Section 37 of the Constitution. However, public
servants and officials are public properties. In this sense, it
means that once they assume political offices, they are now public
personalities whose lives and activities are matter of public
knowledge. Instructively, the critical moves and actions of public
officials that are of national importance and relevance are not to
be treated personal but public. They no longer just represent
themselves but the electorates and their constituencies. So, their
lives and activities, especially with regard to the office being
held, should not be kept private to the public.

The learned scholar, N. Dimgba argued that “being public
figures, such citizens have freely waived their right to privacy by
necessary implication”. Although, there is yet to be any statutory
provision to this effect, it is humbly canvassed that public
officials should by implication of their status lose their
“official” privacy and this does not necessarily open the floodgate
for defamatory publications against them.

Matters of public interest should not be kept private and should
be seen as a strong defence to an action for breach of privacy.

The President’s vacation is not just illegal but also shows a
high level of insolence and embarrassment on the persons of
Nigerians. President Buhari owes the people of Nigeria explanations
about his unauthorized visit since he is carrying about the emblem
of the entire citizenry. Additionally, the bills of his travels,
accommodation and all incidental costs are footed by our collective
resources. Why then should the vacation be shrouded in secrecy?

By the time our leaders learn to respect laws and treat citizen
with utmost regards, the Nigeria of our dream will become
achievable.

Festus Ogun is a Lawyer-in-equity, human rights
activist and Constitutional Law enthusiast.
[email protected]^[1];
09066324982.

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NCWS, NPHCDA Partner on Routine Immunisation in
Nigeria

The National Council for Women Societies, NCWS, has partnered
with the National Primary Healthcare Development Agency, NPHDA,
with a view to improving on the ongoing Routine Immunization in the
country.

PRNigeria^[1] reports that NCWS is
working with PAS under PACFaH@Scale, a social accountability
project which aims to strengthen the capacity of Nigerian Civil
Society Organisations, CSOs, at national and state level to hold
decision-makers in the country.

The PACFaH@Scale project is funded by the Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation and anchored by the development, Research and
Project Centre, dRPC.

Speaking during a courtesy visit at NPHCDA headquarters, Abuja
on Monday, the National President of the NCWS, Dr. Gloria
Laraba-Shoda, stressed the need for the partnership, considering
some challenges hindering the successes of the Routine Immunization
in the country.

She said: ”We are imploring on the NPHCDA to embrace and
accommodate us, as an important accountability network. We are in
the process of developing a scorecard for Routine Immunization
performance and will appreciate it if you also assist us in setting
a list of indicators for the scorecard and other technical
support.

“We also need inclusion into the central Routine Immunization
system in the National Emergency Routine Immunization Coordination
Centre (NERICC),” Mrs Laraba-Shoda added.

Responding, the NPHCDA’s Executive-Director, Dr. Shuaib Faisal,
commended the women society for the visit, pledging to do
everything possible to assist the association in its quest to stamp
out polio in the country.

He said: “As far as I am concerned, we are partners in progress.
We have had a long history of collaboration with the NCWS, from
Polio Eradication to Family Planning and so on.”

By PRNigeria^[2]