Muslim-Muslim ticket, needless controversy

Muslim-Muslim ticket, needless controversy

  Comrade Thalis Apalowo

Unity of Executive Power – the 1999 Constitution vests the executive power of the federation in the President who is the Head of State and Commander-in Chief of Armed Forces, and the executive powers of each state in the state Governor. By virtue of section 5 of the Constitution, the executive powers of the government “shall be vested in the President” who shall exercise such power directly by himself or by other persons including Ministers. Similar provisions exist for the State Governors. This vesting of executive power in a single individual has raised the issue whether the Constitution intended that the President/Governor should be the executive or the chief executive. Although, the constitution uses the terms chief executive to describe the position of the President and the Governor, Ben Nwabueze in a 1982 publication insisted that the President was indeed the chief executive, a position he later modified when he described in a 1985 publication the “unity of the executive” as the hallmark of Presidentialism.

Accordingly, the executive arm of governments under the presidential constitutions of Nigeria is a single whole. The President or the Governor is the executive while the other functionaries of government are mere instrument for the President/Governor’s exercise of his executive power.The implication of the constitutional vesting of the executive powers in the President/ Governor is that the holder of the office determines the number of and responsibilities to be given to the deputy and other ministerial appointee. Accordingly, the Vice President/ Deputy Governor is no more than a subservient servant of the President/ Governor, who is at the latter’s mercy for his relevance or otherwise in government. While the Constitution enjoins the President/Governor to assign responsibilities by way of portfolios to the deputy and Ministers/ Commissioners, the appointor is at liberty to define the scope of such responsibilities and may even fail to give any.

Thus, he may vest any of such responsibilities in himself as when Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and Muhammadu Buhari decided not to appoint a Minister for the Petroleum Resources Ministry and vested the responsibilities of the office in the President. The Court of Appeal has validated this decision. This is because Section 5 of the Constitution permits him to exercise his executive powers “either directly” or through his vice/deputy and other appointee. He also determines the number of such Ministries and the number of Ministers, senior or junior, substantive or Minister of State”, for any of such Ministries. Thus, when ministerial nominees are screened by the Senate for confirmation, their approval is not tied to any responsibility, and they may be assigned any responsibility, moved around ministries, or removed at will by the President without reference to the National Assembly.

The complete vesting of executive powers in the President or the Governor extend to all agencies and departments of government, including foreign missions in the case of the President. It also include the appointment of Special Advisers and Assistants although there is a constitutional provision requiring the legislature to prescribe the number of Special Advisers, the President/ Governors determines the responsibility to be given to such Advisers. He is however, totally unrestricted in the number of other officials- Ambassadors, special Assistants, permanent Secretaries, Director-General, including a retinue of other  official and unofficial aides, that he could appoint. Indeed, the constitutional gap in the regard has been unduly exploited by some Presidents/Governors to create many undeserved positions and fill them with their cronies, unreviewable by anyone or institution. This has weighed very negatively on the cost of the presidential system of government in a young democracy and emerging economy like Nigeria. Unfortunately, that is the design of the Constitution, at least for now.

The executive President/ Governor under the Nigerian Constitution is an extremely powerful office, and the series of abuse attendant to the exercise of executive powers, controlling virtually all the other machinery of government through  contacts and appointments. The executive powers is limited, however, where the constitution vests any power in a body other than the President/Governor. It is not so limited, however, where the assignment of duty or allocation of portfolio is done by the President/Governor in the exercise of his executive powers. The position of vice/deputy is particularly subservient, described in popular discussions as “spare tyre”, even though both are elected on a joint ticket. The Vice/Deputy is at the mercy of his master.

Deducing from the above, it is needless to be exerting too much energy on who becomes the Vice President because he/she more or less an advanced Minister.

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From Comrade Thalis Apalowo.
23/07/2022