Court Grants VP
Acting President Post
Chukwumerije Ajah, Abuja
A
Court has ruled that Vice President Goodluck Jonathan should
immediately assume office as the Acting President of Nigeria.
Ruling in a suit filed by a concerned Nigerian, Mr. Christopher
Onwuekwe, the Chief Justice of the Federal High Court in Abuja,
Justice Daniel Abutu on Wednesday, pronounced that the Vice
President should take over as acting president in accordance
with the Nigerian constitution.
Onwuekwe had, in the suit prayed the court to give an order for
the Vice President to assume the role of the President since the
substantive President Umaru Yar’Adua has been hospitalised in a
Saudi Arabian hospital since November last year.
The Court observed that President Yar Adua did not write the
National Assembly informing it on his absence nor requesting the
Vice President to take over as Acting President in his absence.
Respite
The opposition and rights groups activists, led by Noble
Laureate Professor Wole Soyinka have earlier made similar
requests on the government to fill the position vacuum, created
by the President’s incapacitation, and held a rally in Abuja on
Tuesday to press home the demand.
Qasim/Yinka
