The Place Of The President And Vice President Under The Nigerian And American Constitutions (Part 2) By Mike Ozekhome, SAN – TheNigerialawyer

INTRODUCTION

It is the responsibility of individuals to know that the
liberties of our country, the freedom of our civil constitution,
are worth defending against all hazards, and it is our duty to
defend them against all attacks. In the same vein, the
constitutional provisions that clearly define the roles of the
President and Vice President should never be undermined. The
current “private visit”  by President Buhari
to the UK, a foreign land with a differing territorial
jurisdiction, but where he is busy signing Laws that govern
NIgerians, has more than ever before brought to the fore the place
of the Vice President in a presidential system of government that
we operate. How could the president side-track his joint ticket VP
to totally ignore him and act in a foreign land as if sections 142
to 145 of the 1999 Constitution were inserted for mere decoration?
Where is our national honour, pride, dignity and self-esteem as a
sovereign state? Last week, we considered some of the roles of the
Vice President of America, to include, but not limited to presiding
over the impeachment trials and the power to supervise electoral
votes count. On this note, we shall continue with other informal
roles of the American Vice President.

OTHER INFORMAL ROLES OF THE AMERICAN VICE
PRESIDENT

The extent of any informal roles and functions of the vice
president depend on the specific relationship between the president
and the vice president, but often include tasks such as drafter and
spokesperson for the administration’s policies, adviser to the
president, and being a symbol of American concern or support. The
influence of the vice president in this role depends almost
entirely on the characteristics of the particular administration.
Dick Cheney, for instance, was widely regarded as one of President
George W. Bush’s closest confidants. Al Gore was an important
adviser to President Bill Clinton^[1] on matters of foreign
policy^[2] and the environment^[3].

Under the American system of
government^[4] the president is both
head of state^[5] and head of
government^[6], and the ceremonial
duties of the former position are often delegated to the vice
president. The vice president will on occasion represent the
president and the U.S. government at state funerals abroad, or at
various events in the United States. This often is the most visible
role of the vice president. The vice president may also meet with
other heads of state at times when the administration wishes to
demonstrate concern or support but cannot send the president
personally.

THE VICE PRESIDENT IN NIGERIA

The Vice President of Nigeria^[7] is the
second-in-command to the President of
Nigeria^[8] in the Government of Nigeria^[9]. Officially
styled and referred to as the Vice President of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Vice President is elected
alongside the President in national elections.

The executive function of the Nigerian Vice President includes
participation in all cabinet meetings and, by statute, membership
in the National Security Council, the National Defence Council,
Federal Executive Council, and the Chairman of National Economic
Council (NEC). Although the vice president may
take an active role in establishing policy in the Executive Branch
by serving on such committees and councils, the relative power of
the Nigerian vice president’s office depends upon the duties
delegated by the president.

Section 141 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic
of Nigeria (1999) (as amended) established the office of
the Vice President.

Section 141 Provides:

There shall be for the Federation a
Vice-President.

To further give weight to the office of the Vice President, the
Constitution further provides in section 142 as follows:

142  (1) In any election to which the foregoing
provisions of this Part of this Chapter relate, a candidate for an
election to the office of President shall not be deemed to be
validly nominated unless he nominates another candidate as his
associate from the same political party for his running for the
office of President, who is to occupy the office of Vice-President
and that candidate shall be deemed to have been duly elected to the
office of Vice-President if the candidate for an election to the
office of President who nominated him as such associate is duly
elected as President in accordance with the provisions
aforesaid.

(2) The provisions of this Part of this Chapter relating
to qualification for election, tenure of office, disqualification,
declaration of assets and liabilities and oaths of President shall
apply in relation to the office of Vice-President as if references
to President were references to Vice-President.

It can, therefore, be argued that the Vice-President is NOT a
“spare President”, because the Constitution has specifically
assigned definite functions to him.

The Court of Appeal of Nigeria had an opportunity in the case of
Atiku Abubakar v. Attorney-General, Fed. (2007) 3 NWLR (Pt
1022) 601 at 642, to give a thorough explanation as to the
status of a Vice President. The Court held Per Abdullahi, PCA as
follows:

“The President and the Vice President of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria are jointly elected at a general election and
the relationship between them is not that of a master and servant.
In other words, the vice president is not an employee of the
President or of the political party on whose platform they are both
elected. In the instant case, the plaintiff not being an employee
of the President or the political party on whose platform he was
elected, he cannot be impliedly or constructively removed by either
of them. “The Vice president, not being an employee cannot be
impliedly or constructively removed. Assuming he qualifies as an
employee, without, for a moment so deciding, his employer would
most manifestly be the people of Nigeria, who elected him to the
office, acting through their representatives in the national
assembly but certainly not the President of the Federal republic of
Nigeria nor the sponsoring political party. This assumption is
based on the cliche that the power to hire is the power to fire
embedded in Section 11 of the Interpretation Act. See Longe v.
First Bank of Nigeria Plc (2005) ALL FWLR (Pt. 260) 65. In other
words, this matter is a matter that falls squarely within the
contemplation of Section 143 of the Constitution which expressly
provides for the removal of the President and Vice President from
office.”

On the strength of the above judicial decision, it is submitted
that the relationship between the President and Vice President, is
not that of master and servant as each of them is a creation of the
Constitution and neither employs the other.

Unlike the Ministers, the President cannot remove the Vice
President. The process of removal of the President or the Vice
President is provided for in section 143 of the Constitution. It is
through the process of impeachment, which is to be conducted by the
National Assembly as set out in that section. Section 143(10) of
the Constitution specifically ousts interference of the court from
the proceedings leading to the impeachment of the holders of the
two offices.

Section 143(11) defines what would amount to “gross
misconduct.” Section 143 of the Constitution provides as
follows:

“143   
(1)        The President or Vice
President may be removed from office in accordance with the
provisions of this section.

(2)  Whenever a notice of any allegation in writing
signed by not less than one-third of the members of the National
Assembly –

(a)   is presented to the President  of the
Senate;

(b)  stating that the holder of the office of
President or Vice President is guilty of gross misconduct in the
performance of the functions of his office, detailed particulars of
which shall be specified.

the president of the Senate shall within seven days of the
receipt of the notice cause a copy thereof to be served on the
holder of the office and on each member of the National Assembly,
and shall also cause any statement made in reply to the allegation
by the holder of the office to be served on each member of the
National Assembly.

(3)       Within fourteen days of
the presentation of the notice to the President of the Senate
(whether or not any statements was made by the holder of the office
in reply to the allegation contained in the notice) each House of
the National Assembly shall resolve by motion without any debate
whether or not the allegation shall be investigated.

(4)       A motion of the National
Assembly that the allegation be investigated shall not be declared
as having been passed, unless it is supported by the votes of not
less than two-thirds majority of all the members of each House of
the National Assembly.

(To be continued).

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK

“The Framers of the Constitution wisely understood that
constitutional principles must not be sacrificed on the altar of
political appeasement.” (Max Baucus).

LAST LINE

I thank Nigerians for always keeping faith with the Sunday
Sermon on the Mount of the Nigerian Project, by Chief Mike
Ozekhome, SAN, OFR, FCIArb., Ph.D, LL.D. I enjoin you to look
forward to next week’s treatise.

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