Wednesday, 03 February 2010 00:00 Nigerian Compass
MEDIA owners and executives have told President Umaru Yar’Adua to hand over power to his deputy, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. Rising from a meeting, held at the premises of Vanguard Newspapers Limited, Kirikiri, Lagos, representatives of the Guild of Editors, Newspaper Proprietors
Association of Nigeria (NPAN) and the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), urged the President to cede power within seven days or resign and save the country from further drift into constitutional crisis.
They proposed three options, which are: that the President transfer executive powers to his deputy, resign from office within seven days or face impeachment by the National Assembly, if he fails to embrace either of the first two options.
Specifically, the stakeholders urged Yar’Adua, who is being treated for acute pericaditis in a Saudi Arabia hospital, to tow constitutional path to strengthen the polity and shut the door against all undemocratic forces from the political sphere.
In a communique issued after appraising the state of the nation, they said: “President Umaru Yar’Adua has been in Saudi Arabia for medical treatment for more than 70 days, leaving more than 150 million Nigerians rudderless, thereby unable to perform his duties as Head of State, Chief Executive of this federation and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria and has not been seen in public since then.
“The stakeholders hereby demand that the President cede power to his deputy or resign within seven days.
“If he fails to take this obvious constitutional steps to stabilise the polity and keep undemocratic forces away from the political space, the National Assembly should commence impeachment proceedings against the President for endangering the country.”
The stakeholders meeting was convened to appraise the rule of law mantra of the Yar’Adua administration, as well as the constitutionality and fortune of democracy.
The seven-point communique reads:
•That President Umaru Yar’Adua is human, susceptible to health challenges like every one else.
•That President Yar’Adua is no ordinary Nigerian, in any case, his health challenge is being tackled with national resources.
•That President Yar’Adua swore to an oath of allegiance to obey the letters and the spirit of the 1999 Constitution without fear or favour and to also promote peace and concord in Nigeria.
•That the media stakeholders note the various efforts of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Michael Kasee Aaondoakaa (SAN) to secure rulership in absentia for President Yar’Adua, even when the President had admitted in a BBC interview that his health challenges had temporarily incapacitated him and prevented him from performing the duties of his office.
•That it is therefore frustrating and insulting that members of the National Assembly shall be committing very scarce public funds on a ‘goodwill visit’ to the President in Saudi Arabia.
•The stakeholders commend the valiant intervention by former Heads of State and other eminent statesmen that President Yar’Adua should show regard for the spirit of our Constitution which foresaw our kind of situation.
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