THE VICE PRESIDENT IS NEITHER A SERVANT NOR SLAVE OF
THE PRESIDENT (continues)
INTRODUCTION
In parts 1 to 4 of this writes-up, I fervently discussed the
importance of the place of the President and Vice President under
the Nigerian and American Constitutions and why the Vice President
must never be seen as a mere dispensable spare tyre. Today, we
shall conclude our discourse on the above topical issue.
Courts in Nigeria, especially the Court of Appeal, have done a
great job in elevating the office of the Vice President beyond that
of a mere servant or loyalist of the President who can be removed
at the pleasure of the President.
In the case of Atiku Abubakar v. Attorney-General, Fed. (2007)
3NWLR (Pt 1022) 601; the Court went further to state quite
unequivocally:
”Having regard to the Oath of Allegiance and oath of
office stipulated in the Seventh Schedule to the 1999 Constitution
and requires to be sworn by the Vice President of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria, he does not owe a duty of allegiance and
loyalty to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria or the
political party on whose platform he was elected to the office of
Vice President. The allegiance of the Vice President of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria is to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and he
has an unreserved or unalloyed duty to defend the Constitution of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria as required both in his Oath of
Office and Oath of Allegiance under the Constitution. “Next to be
considered is the question of the Vice President breaching ‘his
obligation of one mindedness, loyalty, material trust, confidence
and good faith.’ This passage or its variant runs through most of
the questions framed for determination of the first defendant’s
counter originating summons. This point was strenuously pressed or
pursued by the first defendant supported by the second and sixth
defendants, the Inspector General of Police and the Independent
National Electoral Commission. None of them directed the attention
of the court to any authority, statutory or decided case. I, too,
do not know of any authority which creates a supine, single-minded
Vice President, indeed a robot. It is respectfully, to my mind not
the intention of the Constitution to create a Vice President with
no mind of his own. I shudder to imagine what would be the fate of
the Country in unlikely event of a President dying in office or
impeached and the Vice President had to assume office of the
President. The only source from which one can glean the person to
whom the Vice President, indeed all those who hold their offices
under the Constitution owe allegiance and loyalty is the Oaths of
Allegiance and the various Oaths of Office contained in Seventh
Schedule of the Constitution. ‘I have painstakingly reproduced both
the Oath of Allegiance and Oath of Office of the Vice-President etc
and can find nowhere in both Oaths where loyalty and faithfulness
and true allegiance is owed to the President of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria who in his own right subscribes to the same
Oath of Allegiance with the Vice-President and an Oath of office
that is essentially identical to that sworn to by the Vice
President. I agree that the Vice-President should have an undivided
loyalty but that loyalty is due to the Federal Republic of Nigeria
and not, I repeat not, to Mr. President not Peoples Democratic
Party who in any case is a stranger to the Constitution of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria. If the Vice-President were to have
undivided loyalty to the President of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria as postulated by the defendants, how does he defend the
Constitution which he has sworn to defend in event the President’s
interest or desire is in conflict with the Constitution?. It is
respectfully my view, that the Vice-President’s allegiance is to
the Federal Republic of Nigeria and has an unreserved or unalloyed
duty to defend the constitution as adumbrated in his Oath of office
and the Oath of Allegiance.” Per. Abdullahi
P.C.A.
The Nigerian Constitution, like the American
presidential system, envisages a single executive of which the
President is the Head and in whom the executive powers are vested.
Article 11 of the Constitution of the United States, just like
section 5(1) of our Constitution, provides that “the executive
power shall be vested in a President of the United State.” The
principle implies the preclusion of a current vesting of the
executive powers in two or more persons of equal authority. The
Principle also has the effect that the legislative organ cannot
take away from the President or confer on others, functions of a
strictly executive nature: See MYERS V. UNITED STATES 272. US 52;
Nowak & Rotunde, Constitutional Law, 6th edition paragraph
7.14, page 298; and Nwabueze, Constitutional Democracy in Africa,
(Vol. 4) Forms of Government, page 76.
I believe that the unity contemplated by the Constitution in the
arrangement of the offices of the President and Vice President
transcend the election. I also believe that this symbiotic
relationship should exist throughout their joint term. The position
is as aptly described by Prof. Nwabueze, at pages 78 to 79 of his
book, cited supra, where he stated as follows:
“It is not intended to suggest that the union (between the
President and Vice Present) demands of the Vice that he should be a
slave to the President, with no will or opinion of his own. It does
not submerge his personality or individuality in that of the
President or make them two-in-one…. As the President’s chief
adviser, it is his prerogative and duty to discuss freely with him
the policies and actions of the government, to point out any
defects or errors in them, and the dangers to which they may expose
the government. Nevertheless, having done this, the principle of
collective responsibility binds him to all government decisions or
actions, whether they emanated from the President alone or from the
Executive Council…”
A COMPARISON OF THE ROLE AND FUNCTIONS OF THE VICE
PRESIDENT OF NIGERIA AND THE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA
VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
The Vice President of the United States:
1) Is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the
U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States,
and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The Vice
President is also an officer in the legislative branch, as
President of the Senate.
2) Article I, Section 3, Clause 4 confers upon the Vice
President the title President of the Senate and authorizes him to
preside over Senate meetings. In this capacity, the Vice President
is charged with maintaining order and decorum, recognizing members
to speak, and interpreting the Senate’s rules, practices, and
precedent.
3) As President of the Senate, the VP may also preside over most
of the impeachment trials of federal officers.
4) The Twelfth Amendment (like the superseded Article II clause)
provides that the Vice President, in his capacity as President of
the Senate, also presides over counting and presentation of the
votes of the Electoral College.
5) Article II, Section 1, Clause 6 stipulates that the Vice
President takes over the “powers and duties” of the presidency in
the event of a President’s removal, death, resignation, or
inability.
VICE PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF
NIGERIA
1) As the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, he
does not owe a duty of allegiance and loyalty to the President of
the Federal Republic of Nigeria or the political party on whose
platform he was elected to the office of Vice President.
2) The allegiance of the Vice President of the Federal Republic
of Nigeria is to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and he has an
unreserved or unalloyed duty to defend the Constitution of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria, as required both in his Oath of Office
and Oath of Allegiance, under the Constitution.
3) The Vice-President shall have an undivided loyalty but that
loyalty is only due to the Federal Republic of Nigeria and not, I
repeat, not, to Mr. President, or to any person, Authority, or
political party, which in any case, is a stranger to the
Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
4) The relationship between the President and Vice President, is
not that of master and servant as each of them is a deliberate
creation of the Constitution and neither of them is an employer of
the other.
5) The Vice President is created by the Constitution. His
appointment and removal from office are also provided for in the
Constitution. They are not determined through the whims and
caprices of the President.
Fellow countrymen, let the President and Vice President walk and
work together for the benefit of and in the interest of the
Nigerian people. Let no cabal or shadowy group (however powerful)
sabotage one in preference for the other. The country eventually
suffers the consequences of such inappropriate action. May Nigerian
leaders uphold the tenets, letters and spirit of our constitutional
democracy that we have voluntarily subscribed to. (THE
END).
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK
“However good a Constitution may be, if those who are
implementing it are not good, it will prove to be bad. However bad
a Constitution may be, if those implementing it are good, it will
prove to be good.” (B. R. Ambedkar).
LAST LINE
I thank our overwhelming readers across the globe, 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 bumper treatise. You have
not seen nothing yet.