THE first responses that the manner of the acting presidency the National Assembly thrust on Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan was legally flawed were right. The explanation that it was based on the doctrine of necessity has introduced another plank for constitutional abuses, especially in the hands of politicians for whom individual survival comes at the expense of everyone, and everything.

Among the huge crowd at the service were Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola, former governors Bola Tinubu [Lagos], Olusegun Osoba [Ogun] Niyi Adebayo [Ekiti] Lam Adesina [Oyo] and two former Deputy Governors in Ogun State, Alhaji Rafiu Ogunleye and Adegbenga Kaka in attendance.

THE British Government and the African Union, yesterday, commended Nigeria for resolving the power logjam that resulted from absence of President Umaru Yar’Adua, currently receiving medical treatment in Saudi Arabia, by installing Vice President Goodluck Jonathan as Acting President, even as the Foreign Affairs Minister, Chief Ojo Maduekwe, admitted that the absence of President Yar’Adua has impaired Nigeria’s diplomatic relations.

ACTING President Goodluck Jonathan, yesterday, assumed responsibility of the new office, when he approved a mini-cabinet reshuffle which led to the immediate swapping of portfolios by three ministers including the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Michael Aondoakaa, who now becomes the Minister of Special Duties.

The Senate Tuesday resolved to have Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan as Acting President until President Umar Musa Yar’Adua returns from his medical trip abroad and is fit to return to his position.

AHEAD of the meeting between the Governors Forum and senators this morning, 160 senators and members of the House of Representatives have signified intention to compel President Umaru Yar’Adua to either send a letter notifying him of his medical vacation or face impeachment.

AS the Federal Executive Council, FEC, is set to debate the memorandum presented by the Minister of Information and Communication, Professor Dora Akunyili, asking President Umaru Yar’Adua to step down for Goodluck Jonathan in the interest of national unity, in two days time, cabinet members earlier opposed to the idea are said to have resolved to back the ‘political solution’ proposed by the 36 governors.

Onitsha—Market leaders in Onitsha, Anambra have urged candidates of other political parties who vied for the Saturday’s governorship election in the state to join Governor Peter Obi to move the state forward. Chief Okwudili Ezenwankwo, Chairman, Amalgamated Market Traders Association of Anambra State, AMATAS, said in Onitsha on Sunday that the election was transparent, free […]

The political deadlock foisted on the country by the leadership of the PDP and a cabal in the Presidency in the aftermath of President Umaru Yar’Adua’s medical trip to Saudi Arabia appears to be nearing its end after the party and the Governors Forum confirmed at the weekend, the existence of a letter from the President to the National Assembly on his absence from the country.

Today’s elections may not have held at all. A Federal High Court in Lagos on Thursday gave judgment in a suit filed by the Action Congress, AC, on the composition of the board of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.