Text of a Press Conference on Thursday, January 28, 2010 by Sen. Ken Nnamani GCON, Chairman, Steering Committee, Good Governance Group (3G): As the nation slouches towards avoidable constitutional and political crisis, the words of Dante Alighieri, the Italian poet that the hottest part of hell is reserved for whoever fails to act in a moment of moral crisis should sound clear in the ears of every Nigerian. Nigeria faces crisis of unimaginable proportion today on account of the ill-health of President Yaradua. It is a big shame that a country that pretends to aspire to become the 20th leading economy in the world by the turn of this decade cannot manage the transition of power in the wake of the hospitalization of the President. The Constitution has provided sufficient guidance on what should be done when unexpectedly an elected President can no longer continue to exercise executive power as President and Commander in Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. That guidance is in Section 144 of the Constitution. It requires that the Federal Executive Council, the body with the greatest proximity to the President, should declare him incapable of exercising executive power so that he could be replaced by the Vice President.
The failure of the Executive Council of the Federation to initiate action based on the provisions of Section 144 of the Constitution is a failure of leadership. Chief Ojo Maduekwe, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, declared in an interview at the United Nations recently that he is a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and not of President Yar'adua. This is right. The implication is that the primary responsibility of the Executive Council of the Federation is to promote the efficacy of the Federal Executive power. The Federal Executive is an institution not a person. To refuse to rise up to the patriotic duty of declaring the President incapable is a fundamental breach of the Constitution by members of the Executive Council of the Federation.
