THE VICE PRESIDENT IS NEITHER A SERVANT NOR SLAVE OF THE PRESIDENT (continues)

INTRODUCTION

In parts 1 to 4 of this writes-up, I fervently discussed the importance of the place of the President and Vice President under the Nigerian and American Constitutions and why the Vice President must never be seen as a mere dispensable spare tyre. Today, we shall conclude our discourse on the above topical issue.

Courts in Nigeria, especially the Court of Appeal, have done a great job in elevating the office of the Vice President beyond that of a mere servant or loyalist of the President who can be removed at the pleasure of the President.
In the case of Atiku Abubakar v. Attorney-General, Fed. (2007) 3NWLR (Pt 1022) 601; the Court went further to state quite unequivocally:

”Having regard to the Oath of Allegiance and oath of office stipulated in the Seventh Schedule to the 1999 Constitution and requires to be sworn by the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, he does not owe a duty of allegiance and loyalty to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria or the political party on whose platform he was elected to the office of Vice President. The allegiance of the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and he has an unreserved or unalloyed duty to defend the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as required both in his Oath of Office and Oath of Allegiance under the Constitution. “Next to be considered is the question of the Vice President breaching ‘his obligation of one mindedness, loyalty, material trust, confidence and good faith.’ This passage or its variant runs through most of the questions framed for determination of the first defendant’s counter originating summons. This point was strenuously pressed or pursued by the first defendant supported by the second and sixth defendants, the Inspector General of Police and the Independent National Electoral Commission. None of them directed the attention of the court to any authority, statutory or decided case. I, too, do not know of any authority which creates a supine, single-minded Vice President, indeed a robot. It is respectfully, to my mind not the intention of the Constitution to create a Vice President with no mind of his own. I shudder to imagine what would be the fate of the Country in unlikely event of a President dying in office or impeached and the Vice President had to assume office of the President. The only source from which one can glean the person to whom the Vice President, indeed all those who hold their offices under the Constitution owe allegiance and loyalty is the Oaths of Allegiance and the various Oaths of Office contained in Seventh Schedule of the Constitution. ‘I have painstakingly reproduced both the Oath of Allegiance and Oath of Office of the Vice-President etc and can find nowhere in both Oaths where loyalty and faithfulness and true allegiance is owed to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria who in his own right subscribes to the same Oath of Allegiance with the Vice-President and an Oath of office that is essentially identical to that sworn to by the Vice President. I agree that the Vice-President should have an undivided loyalty but that loyalty is due to the Federal Republic of Nigeria and not, I repeat not, to Mr. President not Peoples Democratic Party who in any case is a stranger to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. If the Vice-President were to have undivided loyalty to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as postulated by the defendants, how does he defend the Constitution which he has sworn to defend in event the President’s interest or desire is in conflict with the Constitution?. It is respectfully my view, that the Vice-President’s allegiance is to the Federal Republic of Nigeria and has an unreserved or unalloyed duty to defend the constitution as adumbrated in his Oath of office and the Oath of Allegiance.” Per. Abdullahi P.C.A.
The Nigerian Constitution, like the American presidential system, envisages a single executive of which the President is the Head and in whom the executive powers are vested. Article 11 of the Constitution of the United States, just like section 5(1) of our Constitution, provides that “the executive power shall be vested in a President of the United State.” The principle implies the preclusion of a current vesting of the executive powers in two or more persons of equal authority. The Principle also has the effect that the legislative organ cannot take away from the President or confer on others, functions of a strictly executive nature: See MYERS V. UNITED STATES 272. US 52; Nowak & Rotunde, Constitutional Law, 6th edition paragraph 7.14, page 298; and Nwabueze, Constitutional Democracy in Africa, (Vol. 4) Forms of Government, page 76.

I believe that the unity contemplated by the Constitution in the arrangement of the offices of the President and Vice President transcend the election. I also believe that this symbiotic relationship should exist throughout their joint term. The position is as aptly described by Prof. Nwabueze, at pages 78 to 79 of his book, cited supra, where he stated as follows:

“It is not intended to suggest that the union (between the President and Vice Present) demands of the Vice that he should be a slave to the President, with no will or opinion of his own. It does not submerge his personality or individuality in that of the President or make them two-in-one…. As the President’s chief adviser, it is his prerogative and duty to discuss freely with him the policies and actions of the government, to point out any defects or errors in them, and the dangers to which they may expose the government. Nevertheless, having done this, the principle of collective responsibility binds him to all government decisions or actions, whether they emanated from the President alone or from the Executive Council…”

A COMPARISON OF THE ROLE AND FUNCTIONS OF THE VICE PRESIDENT OF NIGERIA AND THE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
The Vice President of the United States:
1) Is the second-highest officer in the executive branch of the U.S. federal government, after the president of the United States, and ranks first in the presidential line of succession. The Vice President is also an officer in the legislative branch, as President of the Senate.

2) Article I, Section 3, Clause 4 confers upon the Vice President the title President of the Senate and authorizes him to preside over Senate meetings. In this capacity, the Vice President is charged with maintaining order and decorum, recognizing members to speak, and interpreting the Senate’s rules, practices, and precedent.

3) As President of the Senate, the VP may also preside over most of the impeachment trials of federal officers.

4) The Twelfth Amendment (like the superseded Article II clause) provides that the Vice President, in his capacity as President of the Senate, also presides over counting and presentation of the votes of the Electoral College.

5) Article II, Section 1, Clause 6 stipulates that the Vice President takes over the “powers and duties” of the presidency in the event of a President’s removal, death, resignation, or inability.

VICE PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA
1) As the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, he does not owe a duty of allegiance and loyalty to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria or the political party on whose platform he was elected to the office of Vice President.

2) The allegiance of the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and he has an unreserved or unalloyed duty to defend the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as required both in his Oath of Office and Oath of Allegiance, under the Constitution.

3) The Vice-President shall have an undivided loyalty but that loyalty is only due to the Federal Republic of Nigeria and not, I repeat, not, to Mr. President, or to any person, Authority, or political party, which in any case, is a stranger to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

4) The relationship between the President and Vice President, is not that of master and servant as each of them is a deliberate creation of the Constitution and neither of them is an employer of the other.

5) The Vice President is created by the Constitution. His appointment and removal from office are also provided for in the Constitution. They are not determined through the whims and caprices of the President.

Fellow countrymen, let the President and Vice President walk and work together for the benefit of and in the interest of the Nigerian people. Let no cabal or shadowy group (however powerful) sabotage one in preference for the other. The country eventually suffers the consequences of such inappropriate action. May Nigerian leaders uphold the tenets, letters and spirit of our constitutional democracy that we have voluntarily subscribed to. (THE END).

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK

“However good a Constitution may be, if those who are implementing it are not good, it will prove to be bad. However bad a Constitution may be, if those implementing it are good, it will prove to be good.” (B. R. Ambedkar).

LAST LINE
I thank our overwhelming readers across the globe, for always keeping faith with the Sunday Sermon on the Mount of the Nigerian Project, by Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, OFR, FCIArb., Ph.D, LL.D. I enjoin you to look forward to next week’s bumper treatise. You have not seen nothing yet.