Obasanjo declares office of VP vacant Print E-mail
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Saturday, 23 December 2006

Nigeria's Obasanjo declares office of VP vacant

Sat Dec 23, 2:09 PM ET

Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo declared vacant the office of his embattled deputy Vice President Atiku Abubakar, after he defected to a rival party ahead of elections next year.

Presidential spokesman Uba Sani told reporters in Abuja that the decision followed Abubakar's defection to the opposition Action Congress (AC) early this week.

The vice president was expelled from the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP) on Friday after he defected to the AC and was chosen as its presidential candidate for leadership elections in April 2007.

Abubakar said Saturday's announcement concerning the vice-presidential post was against the constitution.

"The 1999 constitution which is the ground norm of our democracy does not give the president power to either declare the office of the vice president vacant or to withdraw the rights and privileges of the vice president," he said.

He said he was taking legal action "to challenge this illegality in a competent court of law and I have also begun wide consultation with stakeholders in the nation to halt this sad and regrettable slide to tyranny and lawlessness."

However the ruling party earlier cited constitutional rules stating that the vice-president must belong to the same party as the president.

The PDP had already suspended Abubakar last September after he was indicted on corruption charges by the country's anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

Abubakar, 60, on Tuesday in Lagos publicly accepted his adoption by AC as its candidate for the 2007 poll. In his acceptance speech he described the PDP as a "dying" party.

Abubakar had been Obasanjo's deputy since May 1999, but the two men fell out over a purported bid by the president to seek a third term in office.

Under the country's constitution, Obasanjo can only serve a two-term leadership of eight years. He is due to step down next May at the end of his current tenure.

 



RobotRobot is offline 
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 # 1

Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo declared vacant the office of his embattled deputy Vi...Read the full article.

Posted by Robot| 23.12.2006 18:23

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gwobezentashigwobezentashi is offline 
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 # 2

Comedy of comedies!

These are the half wits running our country and making a mockery of all of us for the world to laugh at us.

Obasanjo the interpreter of the constitution, the supreme justice and supreme legislator! The capo di tutti di capi of the PDP.

Shame on the dunces. When was the last time they won a case in court about constitutionality? Ladoja, Atiku...... all na so so lose lose dem sabi.

Where did the constitution give him power to make a declaration about a sit? Is he now the Federal High Court or the National Assembly?

Let him go and sit down abeg! Instead of packing his load, he is there making belligerent noises.


Aluta!

Gwobezentashi

Posted by gwobezentashi| 23.12.2006 18:51

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ula-lisaula-lisa is offline 
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 # 3


=gwobezentashi;145291>Comedy of comedies!
These are the half wits running our country and making a mockery of all of us for the world to laugh at us.



Welcome back Gwobe!;

Somehow, we expected you back to these subjects that excercise our intellects.

I have a question for you: Does the phrase 'half wits running our country' by any chance include his VP these past two terms???

Posted by ula-lisa| 23.12.2006 19:00

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AuspiciousAuspicious is offline 
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 # 4

Three men, Obasanjo, Atiku and Constitution had no love lost between them. Consitution had always been the victim of their excesses, as they (Obasanjo and Atiku) bullied her whenever the itch to bully her catches them. On many occassions, whenever Atiku cheats Constitution, Obasanjo would protest to high heavens, crying illegality. Same goes for when Obasanjo abuses Constitution; Atiku will whine and call Obasanjo a big bully.

So, last week, I happened to witness another of the funny scenario between them. Atiku had been glaring at Constitution, looking at the latter as if he would eat her up. We though it was all shakara - that all he wanted to do was 'challo' Constitution as usual. But out of nowhere, before Auspicious could say 'Gbeborun!', Atiku suddenly wacked Constitution a vicious slap across the face! Oboyeeee! Osanobume oooo! We were caught unawares - even though we knew he could do it, that he would do it one day, it still suprised us! We were caught unawares!

Obasanjo was, as usual, livid with his trademark rage! He yelled at Atiku: "How dare you hit her like that? What did she do to you? You are just a wicked Barawo!" Atiku scoffed at Obasanjo and laughed: "Muhahahaahah! So? What can you do about it? Abeg komot make I see weather!" Obasanjo almost burst a nut at Atiku's effrontery and proceeded to deal with him. Constitution interceeded, tears in eyes and all, saying: "You are both Agbayas! What are you doing, Obasanjo? Why are you pretending to be a savior?"

"What?!?, said Obasanjo "Are to talking to me? What did you just say?" Constitution retorted: "You heard me, you bully! You pot calling the kettle black! You are both birds of the same feather! You are both very wicked people! You were both meant to protect me..but all you do is harrass me. You fools! Agbayaaaaaaa!" By now, Obasanjo was even more livid, his jugular popped out on his neck like it was going to burst any minute..he bit his lip and glared at Constitution. Before anyone could stop him, he dealt Constitution a lightening-fast slap in the face and walked out of the room. :rolleyes:

THE END.

Auspicious.

Posted by Auspicious| 23.12.2006 19:02

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Mark LarMark Lar is offline 
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 # 5

Gwobezentashi,

What has an akuya, ewure, efi-moooooooooo, and the akuyas care about constitutions and the rights enshrined in the laws & constitutions of Nigeria anyway; they always call them into play when it suits their whims & impulses.

The constant slaughter and genocides, the coups, the looting of public treasuries, their intafada & slaugter of fellow Nigerians in order to annouce to the Arab that they belong, their indifference to Dafur & the slavery of Blacks in Mauritanian, their instransigence to remain illetrate and ignorant, their arrogance of being born to rule despite their glaring short coming to take care of bsisic their basic flaws

Posted by Mark Lar| 23.12.2006 19:22

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No SmokingNo Smoking is offline 
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 # 6

Na wa O!! If to say VP dey for trade union, 'e for jus' go report 'im manager at the employment tribunal for dis kain lock-out.... :rolleyes:

Anyway sha, 'e be laik lawn tennis game. Serve and Volley. OBJ don serve. Make we wait for to see Atiku 'im return... :)

Posted by No Smoking| 23.12.2006 20:21

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Free PubliusFree Publius is offline 
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 # 7

Villagers,

According to the PDP and OBJ's interpretation of the Nigerian Constitution, the drafters somehow intended to allow political parties to change the government at will, through its own internal machinations and thereby imposing the party's unilateral will on the entire country without even bothering with an election and bypassing the legislature.

So, if during OBJ's first term when the House was trying to impeach him, the PDP could have simply booted him out of the party and Atiku would have become President...hmmm, only if Na'Aba and his group had thought about this simpler option instead of worrying about a prolonged impeachment process.

Going forward, should any political party become unhappy with any member of their party in office, all they have to do is boot him out of the party and, voila! he's out of office too.

Maybe now the country can dispense with the long, cumbersome impeachment process. Who would have thunk that the political parties were that powerful.

OBJ and the PDP have successfully re-written the Constitution. Congratulations!

Free Publius

Posted by Free Publius| 23.12.2006 23:20

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Free PubliusFree Publius is offline 
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 # 8

According to the PDP and OBJ's interpretation of the Nigerian Constitution, the drafters somehow intended to allow political parties to change the government at will, through its own internal machinations and thereby imposing the party's unilateral will on the entire country without even bothering with an election and bypassing the legislature.

So, if during OBJ's first term when the House was trying to impeach him, the PDP could have simply booted him out of the party and Atiku would have become President...hmmm, only if Na'Aba and his group had thought about this simpler option instead of worrying about a prolonged impeachment process.

Going forward, should any political party become unhappy with any member of their party in office, all they have to do is boot him out of the party and, voila! he's out of office too.

Maybe now the country can dispense with the long, cumbersome impeachment process. Who would have thunk that the political parties were that powerful.

OBJ and the PDP have successfully re-written the Constitution. Congratulations!


Free Publius

Posted by Free Publius| 23.12.2006 23:22

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AuspiciousAuspicious is offline 
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 # 9

"The effect of Atiku's declaration for another political party and consequent acceptance to run as a candidate of that party is the abandonment of the platform on which he was elected into power as well as a severance of his relationship with the President and the party.

"The net implication is that, at the moment, he lacks a platform that can allow him to continue to occupy that office, and the office is now deemed vacant. This satisfies the provision in Section 146(3)(C) to the effect that the vice president's seat can become vacant 'for any other reason.'"

That subsection (3) states that: "Where the office of the Vive-President becomes vacant- (c) for any other reason, the President shall nominate and, with the approval of each House of the national Assembly, appoint a new Vice President."

- Uba Sani, Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs.

Posted by Auspicious| 23.12.2006 23:24

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AbraxasAbraxas is offline 
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 # 10

Hi, folks!

Let me dare the Chief Justice of the Federation, in line with his CONSTITUTIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES, to sound a note of severe warning to the executive arm of government to refrain forthwith, from subverting the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, if nothing else, at least for a change. Why? Well, because the joke is getting boring, one must confess.

Given the extreme brutalization that the ego and self-worth of Sir
(Dr.) Peter ODILI (JP; KSJ) took, post-PDP 2006 Convention, one expects the judiciary to bark and bite as much as it is possible to degrade the quasi-despotic autocratic propensity of General Olorunsegun Matiyu Aremu Okilkiolakan OBASANJO, through the covert proding of the amiable and overtly partisan political First Lady of Rivers State, who, incidentally, is a Judge of the Court of Appeal, Abuja!

By the way, to imagine for a fleeting moment that Rivers State really had an executive that was led by the husband of a relatively junior judge, who could have influenced the appointment of her peer (over most of their seniors in the state judiciary) as Chief Judge of the state, and with a legislature whose speaker was an economic parasite in the household of the chief executive, prior to May 1999: i.e. The Speaker of the Rivers State Assembly was the incumbent governor's executive boy-boy, pre-democracy; they call it "Senior Special Personal Assistant"! Separation of powers, my nyash!

Sometimes I pray so fervently that the Nigerian Judiciary wakes up. They seem to be the real harbingers of decadence and national collapse in Nigeria. I am serious.

Muchas gracias.

Don Juan Carlos ABRAXAS (III)

Posted by Abraxas| 23.12.2006 23:44

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