The non-appointment of ministers by President Muhammadu Buhari has given a course for concern to citizens who deem it unconstitutional and incredible for a civilian president to rule for over two months without a cabinet.
Speaking on the issue, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and renowned law scholar, Prof. Ben Nwabueze, on Wednesday, August 19, 2015 condemned the president’s actions and observed that it was a reflection of his dictatorial military personality.
Nwabueze, who doubles as a leader of the Igbo Leaders of Thought, further noted that the Nigeria’s constitution does not permit a president to rule the country for more than two months without a council of ministers.
In an article titled, “Constitutionality of President Buhari Ruling Nigeria For More Than Two And Half Months Without a Council Of Ministers: The Concerns of the Igbo Leaders Of Thought,” Nwabueze stated that in a democracy dispensation, the President ought to meet with “various executive bodies” before making crucial decisions.
Nwabueze said, “And yet, knowing his antecedents and the influence they must have on him, Nigerians elected him as ‘civilian’ President in the March 2015 election. His election cannot but portray Nigerians as incapable of learning from past experience, a people lacking the degree of political maturity and sagacity required for the successful working of constitutional democracy.
“Since his inauguration on May 29, 2015, as elected ‘civilian’ President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, a retired army general and former head of the military government, has been ruling the country for more than two and half months without ministers.
“The President ruling for more than two and half months without ministers is really incredible, but, incredible as it is, we Nigerians, as a people, ought to have foreseen it from our experience of the dictatorial way former President Obasanjo who, like President Buhari, is a retired army general and former head of the military government, rode roughshod over the constitutional limitations on his powers.”
