by Kingsley Ahanonu
That President Buhari has been out of the country on a medical trip, and for more than ninety days, seems to be a reason to start antithetical rants, at least to some. More gusto to this has been given by the “Return or Resign” protest of the so-called Concerned Group, who are relying on the”90 days” theory.
Indeed, the absence of the president from his office and responsibility is very unfortunate, although it is quite understandable. But the 90 days limit allowed him to be outside without incident happens to be a total fallacy. And the lumping in of the constitution to it is more contemptuous.
Such could only be the handiwork of overzealous self-seeking elements, who stop at nothing to discredit their targets. These, as seen, have gone to the extent of needlessly inserting, from their imaginations, a nonexistent clause just to find a hold to their vindictiveness, rendering the stipulation of Section 146(2) for what it is not.
But what is most pathetic is the fact that the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) is completely silent about this dilemma. That the president has so far overstayed a certain number of days is not an act that is a constitutional breach.
The focus of section 146 (2) is rather on the possible dilemma that might occur in the unfortunate situation that both the president and his Vice are, at the same instance, found wanting. What this part states is that, at that point, the Senate President is expected to assume office for a period of three months (90days) within which an election is conducted to fill such vacancies.
It’s clear in the light of the Constitution that no such provision is made as to spur any rambling about the president staying up to or above 90 days. Hence, it would be very wrong to use that as the basis of unwarranted censures. As such, the flying attempt to hide under the constitution to castigate PMB is an empty attempt because constitutionally it is neither here nor there.
Op–ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija
Ahanonu Kingsley writes from Owerri. He tweets @kings_emz
