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Governors want Jonathan sworn in as Acting President on Tuesday
GOVERNORS of the 36 states of the federation, under the Governors' Forum, were at the Presidential Villa in Abuja yesterday for a solidarity visit to Vice President Goodluck Jonathan over the ongoing constitutional crisis.
A source at the Villa told The Guardian that the governors discussed with Jonathan the possibility of his being sworn in late on Tuesday, with the understanding that they would have persuaded the National Assembly to pass the resolution earlier that day.
Chairman of the Forum, Governor Bukola Saraki of Kwara State and his Akwa Ibom State counterpart, Godswill Akpabio, said the position being canvassed by the governors was a unanimous one.
According to Saraki: "We associate ourselves with the court ruling that has been given, concerning the President and the Vice President, and that we also agreed to meet with the leadership of the National Assembly to urge them to pass a resolution recognising the Vice President as the Acting President of the nation.
"Under the circumstances, we believe that the Vice President has been acting in that way. And in order to further give more force on that, the National Assembly as well should pass an order."
Akpabio added: "We unanimously resolved that all arms of government should support the Vice President to discharge his duties as Acting President of the country. It is not true that Northern governors said Jonathan should not act as President. The Northern governors are part of the Governors' Forum, and there was no dissenting voice."
Asked the response of Vice President to their position, Akpabio explained: "He was happy with the decision of the governors that yes, while he is praying for the President to recover, there is need for a more assertive action and for us to bring all these publications in Nigeria to an end.
"This is because we must re-emphasise that the constitution made it clear that there is no vacuum and in order to give teeth to the fact, that there must not be vacuum."
Cross River State Governor Liyel Imoke, on his part, stressed the need not to allow any vacuum in the Presidency, especially when President Yar'Adua and Vice President Jonathan share a joint mandate from the electorate.
He said: "As the Governors Forum, we have taken a position, and we all stand by that position. We believe that at this point in time, it is necessary that appropriate actions be taken and solutions be found to what appears to be a problem of the existence of a vacuum.
"I don't share the view of the existence of a vacuum, because the Vice President clearly has the same number of votes as the President. They enjoy a joint mandate."
He also pointed out that the governors intend to go along with court pronouncements on the position and abilities of Jonathan in the absence of Yar'Adua.
"Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution is subject to interpretation and it has recently been interpreted in the court and what we cannot do is to question the judgment until such a time another judgment is obtained. That remains the position, and until that time, the Vice President can act. I think that is very clear.
"It is also very clear now that Section 145 starts with whenever, it does not start with any other word, other than the word whenever. In the event that the transmission does not occur, certain actions can be taken to guarantee the stability of the nation," he stated.
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