The apex northern soci-cultural group, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF),
yesterday said that the Nigerian constitution did not assign any role
specifically for the office of the vice president and cautioned some
Nigerians against fuelling crisis in the presidency.
ACF’s
secretary general, Mr Anthony Sani, while reacting to insinuation by
some Nigerians that the office of the vice had been relegated, said the
constitution empowers the president to assign roles to the vice
president.
“I am finding it hard to make out why the hue and cry
about what is happening in the office of the vice president by way of
some reorganisation of some functions and reassignment of some staff in
the vice president’s office by the presidency.
“More so that
both the presidency and the vice president have dispelled any
misconception that there is a crimp between the president and the vice
president,” Sani said, insisting that the constitution did not provide
for any specific roles for the office of the vice president.
“Any
function performed by the office of the vice president are at the
pleasure of the president who has the right to assign and reassign both
functions and the staff in the office of the vice president.
“If
Mr President has decided to reorganise some of the functions hitherto
performed by the office of the vice president as well as to reduce the
reported 80 staff in the office of the vice president by 35 staff for
performance, it is the constitutional discretion of Mr President to do
so, and there should be no qualms,” Sani said.
As regards the
president’s not transmitting a letter to the national assembly and not
handing over to the vice president this time around that he travelled
out, Sani said it was important to note that the constitution makes
transmission of the letter mandatory only when the president would be
absent from his duty post for at least 21 days.
“If the days of
the absence from duty post are less than 21 days, I believe the
president has the discretion to either transmit the letter to the
national assembly and hand over to his sidekick or not. If the president
has chosen to exercise his constitutional discretion this time around
not to transmit the letter to NASS and hand over to the vice president
because the days of his absence are less than 21 days, that is his
constitutional right,” Sani added.
He said the current
developments in the office of the vice president are not enough signs
of a divided presidency, adding that the presidency had made clear of
that.
“More so that the principal actors have said there is no problems between them.
But
should there be any crimp in the presidency, my plead is for the
president and the vice president to work hard and overcome what is
trying to put the presidency asunder.This is very necessary because only
purposeful leadership that comes from united presidency with clear
thought and morality can deliver on the promise of the electoral mandate
freely given by Nigerians,” he said.