Governors' Forum And The Politics Of Yar'Adua

The body of state chief executives known as the Governors' Forum recently took a position that Dr. Goodluck Jonathan should continue to function as acting president while ailing Alhaji Umaru Yar'Adua should remain the president. To ensure that the status quo is maintained, the governors decided that Yar'Adua should not be declared incapacitated, regardless of his state of health.

They also would not want impeachment or resignation considered as options. Their stand is that until another president is elected, Yar' Adua should remain in office. This is the governors' formula for ensuring that political power resides in the North for eight unbroken years so that there can be stability in the polity. Their reasoning is that the North will be shortchanged if Yar' Adua's tenure is terminated and Jonathan is made the substantive president.

The position of the governors has further complicated Nigeria's lingering political crisis. It is an obvious disservice to the Nigerian state. The governor's stand is not based on any fresh insight into Nigeria's constitution, their stance is squarely predicated on purely political considerations and their demands are totally at variance with the preferences of the discerning and well-meaning public. The 1999 Constitution that regulates Nigeria's presidential democracy does not assign any role whatsoever to a pressure group like the Governors' Forum. That forum is indeed unknown to the constitution.

It therefore lacks the power to determine how and when a president should be removed from or retained in office.
PRESIDENT Yar' Adua was perceived as a breath of fresh air when he assumed office because he made a clean break with his predecessor's dictatorial democracy. The style, if not the substance, of his leadership endeared him to the people.

When in position to determine his now course of action, he demonstrated, to an appreciable extent, that he embraced openness. It was when his health problem began to take a toll on his capacity to manage both national and personal affairs the people's perception of him began to change.

NIGERIANS have sympathy for Yar'Adua. They have been praying for his recovery. It is a clique which surrounds him and holds him captive for selfish reasons that has brought about the change in perception and the widespread demand for his removal from office. His departure from Nigeria for medical treatment in other lands has always been stealthy as if it is an offence to take ill.

Throughout the 93 days he spent on his sick bed in Saudi Arabia, Nigerians were not informed about his health condition. None of the various delegations that travelled to that country to see him succeeded in setting their eyes on him.

Yar'Adua who constantly harped on the rule of law as the cardinal principles of his administration failed to comply with the constitution, which says he should cede power to his deputy whenever he goes on vacation. And since his secretive return, he has remained not only invisible but also incommunicado.

YAR'ADUA left the country rudderless when he took off for Saudi Arabia on November 23, 2009. the vacuum at the apex of political authority in Nigeria became a serious source of worry not only within the country but also in the international community. But for the ingenuity of the National Assembly which deftly invoked the Doctrine of Necessity to empower Jonathan to function as acting president, the situation would probably have gone out of control and the governors would not have been as comfortable as they are today to dictate terms.

In spite of the desperation of the clique around Yar'Adua to conceal the truth about his health from Nigerians, it has become an open secret that the likelihood of his functioning again as president is low. This is why there have been underground moves to find a suitable person who will for now serve as vice president and later emerge as the ruling party's presidential candidate in the 2011 elections.

What then is the rationale behind the governors' decision? Can they maintain this stance if a vice president is appointed tomorrow? What do they stand to lose from a substantive Jonathan presidency and what do they stand to gain from an incapacitated Yar'Adua presidency?

This position of the governors constitutes' a breach of their oath of allegiance. They have expressed in clear language that their loyalty is first and foremost to Yar'Adua and not to Nigeria. Yar'Adua violated the constitution by failing to cede power to his deputy when going on medical vacation, yet the governors insist that he cannot be impeached. The man is widely known to be incapable of performing the functions of the office of the President, but the governors' stand is that he should not be declared incapacitated.

Whose interests are these governors serving? Why did these same governors push for the emergence of Jonathan as acting president? Is the Jonathan presidency getting too hot for them to handle? Can Yar'Adua, in his present condition be held responsible for anything that goes wrong in the management of state affairs? Can the governors not draw the simple inference from the prevailing situation that the Yar'Adua presidency is in abeyance? Are they saying that Nigeria can have two presidents at the same time?