YOU CAN’T HOLD OFFICE AS MINISTER OF PETROLEUM, COURT TELLS BUHARI

ABUJA, Nigeria – A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has ruled that President Muhammadu Buhari cannot hold office as Minister of Petroleum. The court ruled on Wednesday, Nov. 16, following a suit filed by former President of the Nigerian Bar Association(NBA), Chief Olisa Agbakoba.

In the suit Agbakoba asked the court to determine if Buhari could hold the position of minister without the confirmation of the national assembly, stressing that the chaos at the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) would not have happened if the president was not petroleum minister.

“I verily believe that the governance chaos in the NNPC could not have occurred if the president is not also the minister of petroleum resources,” he said. I am aware that the NNPC provides up to 90 percent of the revenue accruing to Nigeria.

“I am worried that the crisis in the NNPC will greatly reduce Nigeria’s revenue-generating capacity and will affect the revenue distributable to federal, state and local governments in Nigeria. This will gravely affect development nationwide and drastically impact one and all Nigerians including those in Anambra state (my state of origin) and Lagos state (my state of residence).

“I looked at section 138 of the 1999 constitution and I verily believe it disqualifies the president from holding executive office including that of the minister of petroleum, during his tenure of office as president.

“I also know that the president did not go through nomination process and confirmation by the senate, before holding the office of minister of petroleum resources

“I again looked at section 147(2) of the 1999 constitution and I verily believe it prohibits anybody from holding the office of a minister of the federation, without confirmation by the senate‎”, he said.

In deciding that there was no violation of Section 138 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended),Justice Mohammed held that the word “hold” as contained in Section 138 meant to preside, act, to possess, occupy or conduct the actual day to day running of the office of Minister.

The Court stated that merely proclaiming/announcing that he (the President) was the Minister for Petroleum was not enough to conclude that he holds the office of Minister and that if the President had not appointed anybody to see to the day to day running of the office i.e. Ibe Kachikwu, the Court’s decision would have been that the President cannot be Minister of Petroleum.

The Court held that, unless it can be shown that the President is directly conducting, directing, occupying the office of the Petroleum Minster then, it can be said that the President actually holds the office of the Petroleum Minister.

This is a huge victory for rule of law and good governance as it now establishes that a President cannot also be a Minister of Petroleum”, Agbakoba said.