A Federal High Court in Lagos presided over by Hon. Justice A. O. Faji held on Friday, that President Muhammadu Buhari did not violate the provisions of the Constitution when he proceeded on vacation to London from April 25 to May 5, 2019 without handing over to the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo.
A Lagos-based lawyer and activist, Mr. Inibehe Effiong, had sued Buhari and the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN) in Suit No: FHC/L/CS/763/2019 when President Buhari travelled out of Nigeria to the United Kingdom in April 2019 on “a private visit”.
Effiong asked the court to determine “whether in view of the extant provisions of Section 145 (1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic, 1999 (as amended), the President can validly proceed on vacation for any length of time without transmitting a written declaration to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives to that effect, which will empower the Vice President to perform the functions of the President in an acting capacity.”
In his defense to the suit, Buhari and Malami argued that the time within which the President has to transmit a written declaration to the president of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is 21 days.
President Buhari also stated that his “private foreign trip” lasted for only 9 days from the 25th of April, 2019 to the 5th May, 2019 and did not exceed the 21 days and that his “private visit” was not a vacation.
Effiong on his part insisted that Section 145 (1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), makes it mandatory for the President to transmit a written declaration to the Senate President and the Speaker of the House of Representatives whenever he is proceeding on vacation, which will empower the Vice President to perform the functions of the office of president in acting capacity; irrespective of the duration of the vacation.
According to Effiong, the Constitution was amended in 2010 following the death of the late president Musa Yar’Adua to prevent a reoccurrence of such national tragedy in which the late president refused to hand over power to the then Vice President, Goodluck Jonathan. The lawyer told the court that if President Buhuri’s argument was accepted, it will defeat the very essence of the 2010 constitutional amendment.
Delivering judgment in the suit on Friday, Justice Faji held that Buhari was not under a duty to handover to Osinbajo since his private visit was less than 21 days.
The judge, however, faulted the argument made by lawyers to Buhari and Malami that his Buhari’s 9 days “private visit” was not a vacation.
According to the judge, there was no evidence that Mr. Buhari was on official assignment or had performed official functions during the 9 days he spent in London in April 2019.
On the issue of locus standi, Justice Faji held that the Plaintiff, Inibehe Effiong, did not disclose any special interest in the matter and how the president’s alleged constitutional infraction had affected him personally over and above other citizens of the country.
Justice Faji, therefore, dismissed the suit without cost, because it was not necessary to go into the issue of cost.
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