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LequteMan
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Governor Ayodele Fayose has called on the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to declare Muhammadu Buhari incapable of continuing as President of Nigeria on health grounds.
According to him, the Nigerian constitution supports this.
“For a President who has spent 113 days abroad taking care of his health out of the 191 days in 2017, it is time for Section 144 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to be invoked.
Section 144 (1) of the Nigerian constitution says, “The President or Vice-President shall cease to hold office, if –
(a) by a resolution passed by two-third majority of all the members of the executive council of the Federation, it is declared that the President or Vice-President is incapable of discharging the functions of his office; and
(b) the declaration is verified, after such medical examination as may be necessary, by a medical panel established under subsection (4) of this section in its report to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
(2) Where the medical panel certifies in the report that in its opinion the President or Vice-President is suffering from such infirmity of body or mind as renders him permanently incapable of discharging the functions of his office, a notice thereof signed by the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall be published in the Official Gazette of the Government of the Federation.
(3) The President or Vice-President shall cease to hold office as from the date of publication of the notice of the medical report pursuant to subsection (2) of this section.
(4) the medical panel to which this section relates shall be appointed by the President of the Senate and shall comprise five medical practitioners in Nigeria.
Fayose continues:
“Even though the number of days that a president can spend outside the country is not specified in the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the makers of the laws of Nigeria envisaged this kind of situation and made provisions for how to resolve it in Section 144.”
“It has, therefore, become pertinent that the Federal Executive Council must invoke Section 144 of the 1999 Constitution by passing a resolution declaring that President Buhari is incapable of discharging the functions of his office.”
According to him, the Nigerian constitution supports this.
“For a President who has spent 113 days abroad taking care of his health out of the 191 days in 2017, it is time for Section 144 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to be invoked.
Section 144 (1) of the Nigerian constitution says, “The President or Vice-President shall cease to hold office, if –
(a) by a resolution passed by two-third majority of all the members of the executive council of the Federation, it is declared that the President or Vice-President is incapable of discharging the functions of his office; and
(b) the declaration is verified, after such medical examination as may be necessary, by a medical panel established under subsection (4) of this section in its report to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
(2) Where the medical panel certifies in the report that in its opinion the President or Vice-President is suffering from such infirmity of body or mind as renders him permanently incapable of discharging the functions of his office, a notice thereof signed by the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall be published in the Official Gazette of the Government of the Federation.
(3) The President or Vice-President shall cease to hold office as from the date of publication of the notice of the medical report pursuant to subsection (2) of this section.
(4) the medical panel to which this section relates shall be appointed by the President of the Senate and shall comprise five medical practitioners in Nigeria.
Fayose continues:
“Even though the number of days that a president can spend outside the country is not specified in the 1999 Constitution (as amended), the makers of the laws of Nigeria envisaged this kind of situation and made provisions for how to resolve it in Section 144.”
“It has, therefore, become pertinent that the Federal Executive Council must invoke Section 144 of the 1999 Constitution by passing a resolution declaring that President Buhari is incapable of discharging the functions of his office.”
