Pan-Yoruba group, Afenifere, has
joined a cross section of Nigerians
condemning President Muhammadu
Buhari ’s letter to the Senate on his
medical vacation.
Adding its voice, Afenifere, stated that
the letter showed a disrespect
to the Office of the President. National Publicity Secretary, Yinka
Odumakin said: “If on this occasion the
President has written to the Senate to
say that while away, the Vice President
will perform the functions of his office
and he now says that the Vice President will coordinate the activities
of government, what the letter is
saying is that they have deregulated
the office of the President. ”
“ It means that everybody will be doing
his own thing, Osinbajo will do what is
brought to his table, the Chief of Staff
will do what is brought to his table.
That is not healthy for our democracy,
it is dangerous . “ t is a bad signal and the constitution is
very clear, that infraction is atrocious. I
think there is is a kind of a
hegemonous threat on the acting
presidency of Osinbajo by that
infraction.” Former House of Reps Deputy Speaker,
Austin Opara , lamented that President
Buhari’s administration is causing
distraction for Nigerians, having used
terminologies not recognized by the
Constitution. “The position of the constitution is
clear on this matter. When the
President travels, he transmits power
to his Vice-President as acting
President and not as a coordinator.
Coordinator is an aberration and such words are not recognized in the
Nigerian Constitution. “What will this government lose by
using the words ‘Acting President’ for
Osinbajo? Under President Goodluck
Jonathan, we had positions like
Coordinating Minister, so are we going
to have a Coordinating President as well? “The APC should stop distracting
Nigerians with their use of words that
are not provided for in the
Constitution,” he said. Shettima Usman Yerima, president of
Arewa Youth Consultative Forum ,
described the letter as mischievous . “ The situation as it is may lead to a
constitutional crisis. The letter written
did not state Osinbajo should act as
president. ” Whoever wrote that letter did it
deliberately to achieve a selfish
interest. Those who wrote it did it out
of mischief to limit the power of the
acting president. ” The government should not tell us
that this is a mere distraction because
it concerns all Nigerians.”