THE EXECUTIVE

CONTENTS

1.0       Introduction

2.0       Objectives

• Main Content
• The President
• Removal of President from Office
• Permanent Incapacity of President
• Discharge of Functions of President
• The Vice-President
• The Appointment of Special Adviser
• The Ministers
• The Establishment of Certain Federal Executive Bodies
• Independence of Certain Bodies
• State Executive
• Deputy Governor
• The Commissioners of State Government
• Qualification for Appointment as a Commissioner
• Special Advisers

4.0       Conclusion

5.0       Summary

6.0       Tutor-Marked Assignment

7.0       References/Further Readings

INTRODUCTION

Under this heading, we shall discuss the establishment of the office of the President, the Vice-President, Ministers of the Federal Government and the establishment of certain Federal Bodies, we shall also discuss Public Revenue, the Public Service, the Prerogative of Mercy and the State Executive to mention a few.

OBJECTIVES

At the end of this unit, you should be able to:

Discuss the:

powers of the President immunity clause

the executive arm of government at the federal level and state level removal of President from office, ditto State elected executive.

MAIN CONTENT

The President

The President of Nigeria must be a Nigerian Citizen of not less than 35 years of age. This criterion applies also to the Governor and Deputy Governor of any state in Nigeria.

The President is the Head of State, the Chief Executive of the  Federation and also the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of  the Federation.

Once a President is elected, he holds the office until:

• his successor in office takes the oath of that office;
• he dies whilst holding such office;
• the date when his resignation from office takes effect; or
• he otherwise ceases to hold office in accordance with the provisions of the

But note that a person is disqualified to hold the office of a President if:

(a) he does an act, acquires any status or suffers any disability which, if he were a member of the SENATE, would have disqualified him from membership of the SENATE; or (b) he had been elected to such office  at any previous elections.

It must be noted however that the President shall not during the period when he holds office, hold any other Executive office or paid employment in any capacity whatsoever.

What is interesting to note is that the election of any candidate to the office of the President shall not be valid unless he nominates another candidate (Vice-President) as his associate for his running for the office of President. The same provision prevails that a candidate for the Governorship of a State must choose another candidate as a Deputy Governor.

Removal of President from Office

The President or Vice-President may be removed from office whenever a notice of any allegation in writing signed by not less than (1/3) one- third of the members of the National Assembly is presented to the president of the Senate, stating that the holder of the office of President or Vice-President is guilty of gross misconduct in the performance of  the functions of his office.

Please note that the provisions enjoin a detailed particular of such a misconduct to be specified:

• The President of the Senate shall within 7 days of the receipt of the notice of the allegation, serve a copy on the President and each member of the National Assembly; and shall also cause any statement made in reply to the allegation by the holder of the office to be served on each member of the National Assembly.
• And within 14 days of the presentation of the notice to the President of the Senate, each House of the National Assembly shall resolve by motion without any debate whether or not the allegation be investigated
• A motion of the National Assembly that the allegation be investigated shall not be declared as having being passed, unless it is supported by the votes of not less than two-thirds majority of all the members of each House of the National Assembly
• The President of the Senate shall within 7 days of the passing of the motion cause the allegation to be investigated by a committee of 7 persons who in his opinion are of high integrity not being members of any public service, legislative house, political party, and who shall have been nominated and with the approval of the Senate, appointed by the President of the Senate to conduct the investigation.
• The President or Vice-President whose conduct is being investigated shall have the right to defend himself in person and be represented before the committee by legal practitioners of his own
• A Committee appointed under this section shall:
• have such powers and exercise its functions in accordance with such procedure as may be prescribed by the National Assembly; and
• within 3 months of its appointment report its findings to each House of the National Assembly.
• Where the Committee reports to each House of the National Assembly that the allegation has not been proved, no further proceedings shall be taken in respect of the matter.
• Where the report of the Committee is that the allegation against the holder of the office has been proved, then within 14 days of the receipt of the report, each House of the National Assembly shall consider the report, and if by a resolution of each House of the National Assembly supported by not less than two-thirds majority of all its members, the report of the Committee is adopted, then the holder of the office shall stand removed from office as from the date of the adoption of the report.
• No proceedings or determination of the Committee or of the National Assembly or any matter relating thereto shall be entertained or questioned in any
• In this section, “gross misconduct” means a grave violation or breach of the provisions of this Constitution or a misconduct of such nature as amounts in the opinion of the National Assembly to gross misconduct

Permanent Incapacity of President

• The President or Vice-President shall cease to hold office, if:
• by resolution passed by two-thirds majority of all the members of the executive council of the Federation it is declared that the President or Vice-President is incapable of discharging the functions of his office;
• and after such declaration has been verified by a medical panel in its reports to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives accordingly.
• Where the medical panel certifies in the report that in its opinion the President or Vice-President is suffering from such infirmity of body or mind as renders him permanently incapable of discharging the functions of his office, a notice thereof signed by the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall be published in the Official Gazette of the Government of the Federation.
• It is interesting to note that to ensure fair play and convincing report; the medical panel to be appointing for this exercise will consist of 5 members only; one of whom shall be the personal physician of the holder of the office concerned; and 4 other medical practitioners who have in the opinion of the President of the Senate, attained a high degree of eminence in the field of medicine relative to the nature of the examination to be conducted.

Discharge of Functions of President

Whenever the President transmits to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives a written declaration that he is proceeding on vacation or that he is otherwise unable to discharge the functions of his office, until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary such functions shall be discharged by the Vice-President as Acting President.

• The Vice-President shall hold the office of President if the office of the President becomes vacant by reason of death or resignation, impeachment, permanent incapacity or the removal of the President from office for any other reason in accordance with the provisions of Sections 143 or 144 of the Constitution.
• Where any vacancy occurs in the circumstances mentioned above during a period when the office of Vice-President is also vacant, the President of the Senate shall hold the office of the President for a period of not more than 3 months, during which there shall be an election of a new President, who shall hold office for the unexpired term of office of the last holder of the office.
• Where the office of the Vice-President becomes vacant:
• by reason of death or resignation, impeachment, permanent incapacity or removal in accordance with the provisions of Sections 143 or 144 of the Constitution;
• by his assumption of the office of President in accordance with subsection (1) of this section; or
• for any other reason, the President shall nominate and, with the approval of each House of the National Assembly, appoint a new Vice-President.

The Vice-President

The President is not bound to give the Vice-President any function at all by the provisions of the 1979 Constitution of Nigeria. This lapse has engendered lots of problem and serious misgivings coupled with vehement bickering, confusion and misunderstanding as well as leading to internal disharmony. Now however, the 1999 Constitution emphatically provides that the President may in his discretion, assign to the Vice-President responsibility for any business of the Government of the Federation of any department of governance.

The President shall hold regular meetings with the Vice-President and all the Ministers of the Government of the Federation for the purpose of:

• determining the general direction of domestic and foreign policies of the Government of the Federation;
• coordinating the activities of the President, the Vice-President and the Ministers of the Government of the Federation in the discharge of their executive responsibilities; and
• advising the President generally in the discharge of his executive functions other than those functions with respect to which he is required by the Constitution to seek the advice or act on the recommendation of any other person or body

The Appointment of Special Adviser

The President may appoint special advisers in order to assist him in the performance of his functions.

The number of such Advisers and their remuneration and allowances shall be as prescribed by law or by resolution of the National Assembly.

The appointment of a Special Adviser is at the pleasure of the President and any person so appointed by him will cease or vacate the post when the President ceases to hold office.

The Ministers

Both sections 135 of the 1979 Constitution and 147 of 1999 Constitution are explicit on the appointment of the Ministers of the Federal Government and they all provide as follows: mutatis mutandi:

• There shall be such offices of Ministers of the Government of the Federation as may be established by the President.

But before appointment of any person as a Minister by the President can be done, a nomination of any person to such office must be confirmed by the SENATE. The President is enjoined to follow the federal character principles in the appointment of his Ministers and the  President shall appoint at least one Minister from each state who shall  be an indigene of such State.

• This directive is in conformity with the fundamental objectives and directive principles of state policy which demands that the composition of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such manner as to reflect the Federal Character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also to command national loyalty thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few states or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that government or in any of its agencies.

Note that where a member of the National Assembly or of a House of Assembly is appointed a Minister of the Government of the Federation, he shall be deemed to have resigned his membership of the National Assembly or of the House of Assembly on his taking the Oath of Office as Minister.

No person shall be appointed as a Minister of the Government of the Federation unless he is qualified for election as a member of the House of Representatives.

Lastly it must be remembered that a Minister of the Government of the Federation shall not enter upon the duties of his office, unless he has declared his assets and liabilities as prescribed by the Constitution and has subsequently taken and subscribed the Oath of Allegiance and the Oath of Office of Minister prescribed in accordance with the relevant schedule to the Constitution.

The Establishment of Certain Federal Executive Bodies

There shall be established for the Federation the following bodies:

• Code of Conduct Bureau;
• Council of State;
• Federal Civil Service Commission;
• Federal Judicial Service Commission;
• National Defence Council;
• National Economic Council;
• National Population Commission;
• Federal Character Commission;
• Independent National Electoral Commission;
• National Judicial Council;
• Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission;
• National Security Council;
• Nigeria Police Council;
• Police Service

All members and Chairmen of the bodies shall be appointed by the President and the appointment shall be subject to confirmation by the Senate.

However, in exercising his powers to appoint a person as Chairman or member of the Council of State, the National Defence Council, or the National Security Council, the President shall not be required to obtain the confirmation of the SENATE. But in exercising his powers to appoint a person as Chairman or member of the Independent National Electoral Commission, National Judicial Council, the Federal Judicial Service Commission or the National Population Commission, the President shall consult the Council of State.

It must however be noted that the Constitution contains provisions for:

• The tenure of office of the members;
• qualification for membership; and
• how members can be removed from office

See the Federal Republic of Nigeria Constitution, 1999 Sections 155 – 157 for details.

Independence of Certain Bodies

Section 158(1) of the 1999 Constitution is more comprehensive than section 145(1) of the 1979 Constitution.

Section 145(1) of the 1979 Constitution limits such independent bodies to the Federal Civil Service Commission, the Federal Judicial Service Commission and the Federal Electoral Commission, while the quorum for holding meetings and taking decision of the bodies shall not be less than one-third of the total number of members of that body at the date of the meeting.

Section 158(1) of the 1999 Constitution states as follows: -

1. 158(1) In exercising its power to make appointments or to exercise disciplinary control over persons, the Code of Conduct Bureau, the Federal Civil Service Commission, the Federal Judicial Service Commission, and Independent National Electoral Commission, the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission and the National Judicial Council shall not be subject to the direction or control of any other authority or person.

(2)       The National Population Commission shall not be subject to the direction or control of any other authority or person:

• in appointing, training or arranging for the training of enumerators or other staff of the Commission to assist it in the conduct of any population census;
• in deciding whether or not to accept or revise the return of any officer of the said Commission concerning the population census in any area or part of the Federation;
• in carrying out the operation of conducting the census; and
• in compiling its report of a national census for publication

State Executive

The State Executive is a miniature of the Federal Executive in that the Governor of a state who also has to be a citizen of Nigeria and not less than 35 years of age operates with both his Deputy Governor and the Commissioners jointly to steer the ship of any particular state.

The Chief Executive of a state is the Governor who holds such an office until:

• his successor in office takes the oath of that office;
• he dies whilst holding such office;
• he otherwise ceases to hold office in accordance with the constitutional provisions

Deputy Governor

The Constitution provides that a candidate for the office of Governor shall not be deemed to have been validly nominated to such an office unless he nominates another candidate as his associate for his running for the office of Governor, who is to occupy the office of Deputy Governor; and that candidate shall be deemed to have been duly elected to the office of Deputy Governor if the candidate who nominated him is duly elected as Governor.

While no provision is made for the assignment of duties to a Deputy Governor in the 1979 Constitution; section 193 of the 1999 Constitution provides that the Governor of a state may in his discretion assign to the Deputy Governor specific responsibility for any business of the Government of the state, including the administration of any department of government.

The Commissioners of State Government

Any appointment to the office of Commissioner of the Government of a state shall be made by the Governor after confirmation by the House of Assembly of the state.

However before any appointment is made by the Governor must be guided by this provision which states:

“The composition of the Government of a state, a local Government, or any of the agencies of such Government, and the conduct of the affairs of the Government or such agencies shall be carried out in such manner as to recognise the diversity of the people within its  area of authority and the need to promote a sense of belonging and loyalty among all the people of the Federation”.

Note that no person shall be appointed a Commissioner of the Government of a state unless he is qualified for election as a member of the House of Assembly; while section 193 of the 1999 Constitution gives the Governor of a state a discretion to assign to the Commissioner of the Government of the state responsibility for any business of the Government of that state including the administration of any department of Government.

The Constitution provides that the Governor should hold regular meetings with the Deputy Governor and all the commissioners of the Government of the state for the purpose of:

• determining the general direction of the policies of Government of the state;
• coordinating the activities of the Governor, the Deputy Governor and the commissioners of the Government of the state in the discharge of their executive responsibilities; and
• advising the Governor generally in the discharge of his executive functions other than those functions with respect to which he is required by the constitution to seek the advice or act on the recommendation of any other person or body

Qualification for Appointment as a Commissioner

Apart from the qualificational criteria for election as a member of the House of Assembly of the state and subject to section 14(4) of the 1979 constitution and 15(4) of the 1989 constitution, there appears to be no specific qualifications made to guide an appointment to the office as a commissioner.

However, in appointing an Attorney-General for each state who shall be the Chief Law Officer and a commissioner of the Government of that state, no person shall be qualified to hold or perform the functions of the office of an Attorney-General unless such a person is qualified to practice as a legal practitioner in Nigeria and has been so qualified for a period of not less than 10 years.

Special Advisers

The Governor of a state also has a constitutional right to appoint any person as special Adviser to assist him in the performance of his functions and such officers will cease to be in office when the Governor ceases to hold office.

The number and the remuneration of such officers appointed shall be fixed by law or by the resolution of the House of Assembly of the state.

CONCLUSION

In this unit, we have attempted to examine the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Governors as well as the law relating to their election, powers and removal from office.

SUMMARY

You have learnt in this unit about the constitutional provisions concerning the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Governors in the State. Their powers, functions, limitations and how they can be removed from office.

TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT

1. Explain and discuss the powers of the President and Governors under the 1999
2. Explain the powers of removal of President under the 1999 Constitution.

REFERENCES/FURTHER READINGS

I.G.P. Vs. Oke (1958) LLR 45 at 46.

Commissioner for Works, Benue State Vs. Devcon Ltd. (1983) (Pt. 83) 40 at 422.

Obeya Memorial Hospital Vs. A.G. of the Federation (1987) 3 NWLR (Pt. 60) 325.

Ladunni Vs. Kukoyi (1972) 1 ALL NLR 133 (Pt. 1).

Egbe Vs. Onogu (1972) 1 ALL NLR 95.

Kufeji Vs. Kogbe (1961) 1 ALL NLR 133.

Kotoye Vs. C.B.N. Supra.

Missini and Others Vs. Balogun (1968) 1 ALL NLR 318

Ladunni Kukoyi and Ojukwu Vs. Governor of Lagos (1986) 3 NLR (Pt. 26) 39

Onyesoh Vs. Kukoyi.

Orji Vs. Zaria Ind. Ltd. (1992) 1 WNLR (Pt. 216) 124 ratio 2, 3.

Akapo V. Hakeem-Habeeb (1992) 6 NWLR (Pt. 247) 266 ratio 4.

Mohammed Ojomu Vs. Salawu Ajao (1983) 9 SC. 22 – 58.

Thompson V. Park (1994) 1 KB. 408.

Akapo V. Hakeem-Habeeb 1992) 6 NWLR (Pt. 247) 266 at page 275.

Ogbonnaya Vs. Adapal Ltd. 1993) 6 KLR 89 at ratio 5”In the exercise of its discretion to grant an Interlocutory Injunction”.

Igwe Vs. Kalu (1993) 4 KLR 33 at page 35 ratio 3 and 4.

John Holt Nig. Ltd. Vs. Holts African Workers Union of Nigeria and Cameroons (1963) 2 SC. NLR 383.

Nigeria Civil Service Union Vs. Essien (1985) 3 NWLR (Pt.12) 185.