Nigeria in 2009

Nigeria in 2009 The ill-health of President Umaru Yar’Adua and his physical absence during the last weeks of 2009 exacerbated the power struggle within the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the federal executive council. Brinkmanship, manipulation and deliberate misinterpreta- tion of various constitutional provisions prevented the seemingly hapless Vice President Goodluck Jonathan from immediately assuming presidential powers, so that towards the end of the year a military coup seemed possible. With some delay, the international financial melt-down also reached the Nigerian economy, although the serious banking crisis, which forced the central bank to inject huge amounts of money to avert a systemic crisis, was almost en- tirely home-made. In the wake of an unprecedented increase of vio- lence, attacks and counter-attacks by security forces and the militias in the Niger Delta, the government eventually offered an amnesty programme, thereby making a surprising political U-turn in an ef- fort to break the long-lasting deadlock in the oil and gas producing region. Domestic Politics When President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua travelled to Saudi Arabia on 23 November for follow-up medical checks, nobody thought that he would not be back by the end of the year. Ever since he had become governor of Katsina state in 1999, a position he occupied twice, it was common knowledge that he suffered from recurring health problems, but he was nevertheless elected president in 2007 and went abroad on several occasions for temporary medical treatment. This time, however, the situation was different because, when he ar- rived in a Saudi Arabian hospital in Jeddah, it was announced that he had acute pericarditis, or inflammation of the lining around the © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2017 | doi 10.1163/9789004347410_007 122 Nigeria in 2009 heart. His ill-health then became the focal point of domestic politics for the rest of the year, raising serious legal and constitutional issues in respect of the president’s powers. During the month of December, continuing doubts surrounding Yar’Adua’s ill-health led to a period of great uncertainty, as scheming politicians and godfathers outside of government and parliament prepared for the possibility that he might be too sick to remain in office. Unfortunately, although Vice President Goodluck Jonathan had presided over cabinet meetings, articles 144, 145 and 146 of the 1999 constitution prevented him from assuming executive powers, a situation which led to questions over the legality of government decisions. According to the Constitution, the vice president as- sumes the role of president if the president sends a written declaration to the president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of Representatives, indicating that he is going on vacation or that he is otherwise unable to discharge his office, until such time as he sends a written declaration to the contrary. Moreover, the president or vice president ceases to hold office if a resolution passed by a two-thirds majority of all members of the executive council of the federation declares that the president or vice president is medically incapable of discharging his office. This declaration must be verified by a five-man medical panel, appointed by the Senate president, of whom one should be the personal physician of the office-holder concerned. By the end of the year, however, the president had sent no such written declaration to the Senate leadership nor had the executive council of the federation passed any resolution, thus creating a serious power vacuum in which rumours of an imminent military coup were rife. Throughout December, while published opinion called for Yar’Adua’s resignation, the cabinet unanimously and vigorously maintained its view that there were no grounds on which to seek his resignation. Against this background, it became apparent that the ruling PDP was engaged in a quiet power struggle, horse trading behind closed doors and grappling with the question of whether to .

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