Former Aviation Minister, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode has called on the vice presidential candidate of the PDP, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa not to overreact to his APC counterpart, Senator Kashim Shettima’s comment on handling security if elected into office in 2023.
Fani-Kayode said this in a Facebook post on Thursday.
Speaking at the NBA Conference in Lagos, Shettima said he would handle security while his principal, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, would take charge of the economy if elected.
“I have been in the theatre of conflicts for 18 years. I will lead the troops, my principal is an economy wizard who has transformed Lagos into the third largest economy in Africa. He will concentrate on the economy,” the former Borno governor said.
But reacting to the comment, Okowa, who is the Governor of Delta State, described the proposition as “unconstitutional”.
In a video published by Daily Trust on Wednesday, Okowa said the vice president could not usurp the president’s constitutional duty as the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces.
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“I don’t want to talk about their policies. If the vice-president will take charge of security, is he (the president) not going to preside over the security council at the federal level? I don’t understand that. Because there is a commander-in-chief. Is there a reversal in position?
“He can offer advice. But I’ll find it absurd that he speaks about: ‘I’ll take charge of it’. Possibly they have agreed that he’s to be the commander-in-chief,” Okowa said.
Taking to Facebook, Fani-Kayode stated that Okowa read too much into Shettima’s comment.
“Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta state who is the Vice Presidential candidate of the PDP, ought to know that when Senator Kashim Shettima said he, as Vice President, would take charge of security whilst Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as President, would focus on the economy, he did not in any way mean or suggest that he would usurp the constitutional functions and duties of the incoming President and Commander-in-Chief.
“What he meant was that he would be assigned that role and duty by the President and that he has the inherent experience and knowledge to handle such an assignment with courage and strength due to the vast experience he has gained over the years when facing the challenge of Boko Haram whilst he was Governor of Borno state.
“It amazes me that Governor Okowa, who is ordinarily a level-headed, cerebal, decent, restrained and well-exposed man and who I have always had immense respect for, would consider this to be “unconstitutional” or “absurd”.
“The truth is that it is perfectly constitutional and legitimate and it is in fact common practice when it comes to our system of Government,” Fani-Kayode wrote.
He said there was a precedence for the practice in the Nigerian polity.
Fani-Kayode noted that during the first term of President Olusegun Obasanjo’s tenure, the president handled “foreign affairs and international relations” and assigned “control over the running and restoration of the economy” to Vice President Atiku Abubakar.
“This did not mean that OBJ was no longer the Commander-in-Chief or in charge of the country but rather that he had enough faith and confidence in his number two to do a good job in that sector and consequently he assigned it to him to handle and report back to him as President.
“No-one complained about this arrangement at the time and neither did anyone question its constitutionality, legality or legitimacy.
“The President is the Commander-in-Chief but he has the inherent powers, right, obligation and duty to assign whatever role or sector he deems fit to his Vice to preside over at any point in time.
“If it is security or anything else then so be it,” Fani-Kayode said.