Hopes that Vice President Goodluck Jonathan will act as Nigeria president has dimmed as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) refused to take a stand on whether he should be formally empowered to act.

This is coming just as the National Legal Adviser of the party, Chief Olusola Oke, stated that whether the vice president will act or not cannot be by judicial pronouncement.

Oke was reacting to the pronouncement of the Federal High Court that the vice president should exercise the powers of the president while still remaining the vice president.

Although the party had not been formally apprised of the pronouncement of the court, he said the party will not hesitate to challenge it, if there is a need to do so. He added that what the court should do is to order FEC to invoke its powers as enshrined in the constitution and not make pronouncements for the fun of it.

Indeed, the PDP also said when National Chairman, Vincent Ogbulafor told reporters in Abuja at a news conference that there was nothing wrong with the current performance of the vice president but refused to say categorically whether the provisions of the constitution should be invoked for him to act as president.
“Since the president left this country, the VP has been doing well and the party has been expressing satisfaction over his ability to guide and lead the nation in the absence of his boss.

“Since he left, there has been no vacuum or gap. The VP is good as vice president and that is why the president choose him. We believe and pray that he returns. We don’t wish any human being dead. We continue to assist the VP to be working on behalf of Nigerians,” Ogbulafor said when asked whether the party was scared to take a position on the debate about the VP formally acting as president.

Ogbulafor also stated that the opposition cannot set an agenda for the PDP, lamenting that the opposition over time have not been able to distinguish between “mere politicking and the larger national interest.” Ogbulafor said the health condition of the president was exaggerated by politicians but that when “Yar’Adua left the country, it wasn’t intended that he will not come back. All we have to do is pray for the sick man to quickly recover.”

He described as “shameful, unnecessary and completely out of tune with the national mood,” the protest rally held in Abuja on Tuesday, saying it was an “insensitive display of lack of respect for our institutions,” but he quickly defended Yar’Adua’s interview in the BBC Hausa service, saying “whether the president spoke to BBC or not depends on who approached him and he can speak in any language.”

He also said the party has no objection if the National Assembly planned visit to the president is recorded on video for Nigerians to see. He commended FEC and described them as an “outstanding example of the values of team work and commitment to duty.”


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