Nigeria’s Cabinet rallied around ailing President Umaru Yar’Adua on Wednesday, passing a unanimous resolution that he remains capable of holding office despite a two-month absence for medical treatment.
But the vote by the Cabinet, many of them Yar’Adua’s appointees, set it on a collision course with the Senate, which said the president should formally notify Parliament of his absence, a step which would mean his deputy taking over.
The 58-year-old leader has been in Saudi Arabia since late November receiving treatment for a heart condition, but has not formally transferred power to Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan, triggering debate over the legality of government decisions.
“The medical treatment outside the country does not constitute incapacity to warrant or commence the process of the removal of the president from office,” the Cabinet said in a statement read by Justice Minister Michael Aondoakaa.
Political analysts had expected ministers to fall behind the official line of the ruling People’s Democratic Party and rally around Yar’Adua after a federal court last week gave them 14 days to pass a resolution on his fitness to govern.
No minister has publicly said they have spoken to Yar’Adua in recent weeks and it was not immediately clear what medical evidence formed the basis for the vote of confidence.
The opposition has criticised the Cabinet for backing Yar’Adua out of self-interest, fearing that should Jonathan take over he could sack them and appoint his own allies.
The Senate appeared not to share the Cabinet’s confidence.
“The Senate urged the president … to formally notify the National Assembly of his medical vacation pursuant to section 145 of the 1999 Constitution,” Senate President David Mark said, following two days of closed-door debate by lawmakers.
Article 145 states that whenever the president submits a written declaration that he is going on vacation or otherwise unable to perform his duties, the vice-president takes over as acting president until he writes again to the contrary.
Although the Senate does not have the authority to force Yar’Adua to hand over power, Parliament could in theory move to impeach him for misconduct if he fails to heed its call.
“The statement is a big move by the Senate given the official stance of the ruling PDP, which the [Cabinet] seems to be keeping in line with,” said Kayode Akindele, a director at financial advisory firm Greengate Strategic Partners.
“The Senate has now put the impetus on the Presidency to provide conclusive evidence that the president is continuing to carry out his executive duties … Today’s [Wednesday] developments also suggest there will be a political solution to the impasse rather than a legal one through the courts.” — Reuters