President Muhammadu Buhari has again returned to the United Kingdom (UK) to take care of his health. In a fatherly decision which even his most rabid opponent could not help but commend, the President delayed going back to the UK for this latest medical check-up in order to receive personally the 82 Chibok schoolgirls recently swapped for five Boko Haram members.
Like millions of patriotic Nigerians, we pray that President Buhari recovers well enough to return home and continue to lead the nation. However, not a few admirers of the President were concerned by the feebleness of the President voice as he delivered a speech to the freed Chibok girls. We can only continue to pray…
Nevertheless, we observe that so much has been said and written about the President health. In the cacophony of this serious national discourse however, it appears to us that the nation continues to play the ostrich, burying its head in the sand to the very real possibility that the President might simply not be able to continue in office sometimes down the line.
Rather than skirts around this very real likelihood, or assume that relevant constitutional provisions would automatically kick in for a seamless transition of power, we are of the well-considered view that the nation must contemplate all possible scenarios which could arise in the event that President Buhari cannot continue in office for reasons of his health.
This being a possibility, the nation must also take proactive steps now in order to avoid the multifaceted crisis which trailed the incapacitation of late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, leading to an unprecedented, historic “Doctrine of Necessity” declared by the Senate.
With the well reported activities of the “Cabal” around President Buhari and the campaign for the President’s seat by subterfuge being currently conducted by elements within and outside the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) towards 2019, the perceptive would argue, without any fear of contradiction, that the situation in the country now is even more complex than in 2010.
A stich in time, they say, saves nine.
Therefore, this newspaper is of the view that the nation must start to contemplate a post-Buhari presidential scenario based on extant constitutional provisions, the peculiarities of the situation on our hands and current dynamics of Nigerian politics.
This proactive spirit informs our editorial.
In the event that President Buhari is unable to continue in office, the nation’s Constitution makes it clear that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo shall succeed him. However, this shall immediately disrupt the geo-political configuration of the Buhari/Osinbajo Presidency. To address this, some have suggested that a northerner should be appointed to serve as Vice President to Osinbajo. We support this equitable proposition.
However, in order to avoid the very real scenario of the 2019 Presidential Race playing out within Aso Rock, disrupting governance and creating bad blood nationwide, we suggest that a replacement for the hypothetically elevated Osinbajo must not be an individual capable of launching a bid of his or her own for the Presidency in 2019.
Vice President Osinbajo, in his new capacity as substantive President, must also be magnanimous enough not to give in to vaunting ambition or the prodding of opportunistic courtiers to bid for the Presidency in 2019.
It is our view that if President Buhari is to resign his post, this nation owes him a huge debt of reciprocation, which should be well paid by vesting in him the honorific title of Emeritus President in retirement, which shall not entail any official power or administrative role whatsoever. Currently, no law in Nigeria makes provision for honorary Emeritus President. We recognise this and posits that the Senate might consider another doctrine of necessity to facilitate this honour for President Buhari if he quits the Presidency midstream.
It is also our well-considered opinion that the Wife of the President, Hajiya Aisha Buhari, is best nominated by the North to serve as Vice President to the conjectural President Yemi Osinbajo.
Rather than appointing a northerner who would see his appointment as an advantageous foothold to bid for the Presidency in 2019, Hajiya Aisha Buhari’s presence in the Presidency would serve to situate the expected political ‘war’ for the Presidency in 2019 substantially outside Ado Rock since both herself and the putative President Osinbajo shall not throw their hats in the ring for the presidential race.
Hajiya Aisha Buhari’s appointment would also be a historic acknowledgement of the inestimable contributions of Nigerian women to nation-building from time immemorial, even as we are of the well weighted view that Hajiya Aisha Buhari would be an excellent Vice President. Also, Vice President Aisha Buhari would be a great role model for the Girl-Child. Her appointment should also serve to accommodate millions of Nigerians who supported President Buhari’s election in 2015 and continue to stand with the President at this critical juncture of his Presidency.
More importantly, our hypothetical Osinbajo/Aisha Buhari Presidency should serve as a calming balm on the nation’s psyche as political gladiators slug it out in the build up to the 2019 General Election and the polls itself.
We humbly urge the nation to carefully consider this Plan B as a possible, proactive, peace-building solution to a post-Buhari Presidency.
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