SAFAR 21 1431 A.H.
FRIDAY FEBRUARY 5, 2010.
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Senate resolution on medical vacation: Yar’adua ‘ll comply, says Abba Aji
President Umaru Musa Yar’adua will comply with the Senate’s resolution for him to transmit a letter of his medical vacation to the National Assembly, Presidential Adviser Muhammad Abba-Aji said yesterday.
Abba-Aji, the President’s Special Adviser on National Assembly Matters, told journalists after a two-hour closed-door meeting with the Senate that Yar’adua had respect for the rule of law.
According to him, the president will not refuse to transmit the letter, in accordance with section 145 of the 1999 Constitution.
``The president has never refused to comply with the resolution of the National Assembly. I am quite sure that the president will abide by the Senate’s resolution,’’ he said.
Asked if the resolution had been forwarded to the president, Abba-Aji said he believed so.
He added that the decision must have been transmitted to the president through the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF).
``There are two channels of communication. All resolutions passed by the House and the Senate always pass through the SGF’s office through the Clerk of the National Assembly,’’ he explained.
Abba-Aji, however, said that he was not given any letter by the president to the National Assembly before his medical vacation in Saudi Arabia, contrary to reports that a letter was given to him.
He said that the SGF, Alhaji Yayale Ahmad, must have been mixing up issues when he told the Senate that a vacation letter was given to him for the National Assembly.
The adviser recalled that the only time when the issue of transmission of letter to the National Assembly came up was when the president was proceeding on a two-week vacation on Jan. 23, 2009.
He said that the president had to shelve the vacation on Jan. 29, 2009, following the death of former governor of Yobe state, Sen. Mamman Ali, on Jan. 27, 2009.
``The president has never transmitted any vacation letter to the National Assembly prior to any of his travels to Saudi Arabia.
``It was only during the president’s vacation of January, 2009, and while the development that I have just outlined was unfolding, a decision to write a vacation letter was made before it was later rescinded.
``The SGF should know what to do when he drafts a letter that fails to see the light of the day, particularly since the idea behind the letter was not even his own,'' he said.
Abba-Aji told the journalists that from his interaction with the Senate, the senators were satisfied with his explanation.
Also briefing newsmen, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Information and Media, Sen. Ayogu Eze, said that the explanation by Abba-Aji had cleared the air on the issue of transmission or non-transmission of any letter.
