THE 29 state governors who last week said they were all for Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan becoming acting president without a formal letter from President Umaru Yar’Adua in line with Section 145 of the Nigerian Constitution may have had a hidden agenda. And this, it was gathered, had forced senators to shun them.

The governors’ position is the opposite of the Senate’s resolve to commit President Yar’Adua to transmit a letter of power transfer to the vice-president and with the anticipation of compliance by the president before the end of this week.

Reports from the seat of power indicated that the Nigeria Governors Forum had yielded to the agenda of the North and, indeed, that of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), that Jonathan should not be offered presidential power in acting capacity, through a letter from the president.

The chairman of the  Nigeria Governors Forum, and governor of Kwara State, Dr. Bukola Saraki, had told newsmen in Abuja that since the courts had ruled that the vice-president could perform the functions of President Yar’Adua without necessarily receiving a letter from the president to that effect, it would be ideal for the Senate to move a motion, asking him to rule without the letter.

The state governors had, at the weekend, summoned their respective senators to meetings where they entreated them to support a motion to be moved in the Senate today, asking Jonathan to continue playing the role of the president, without the mandatory letter from Yar’Adua.

Some senators who spoke with the Nigerian Tribune in Abuja described the intervention of the governors as needless, the Senate having already taken its own position.

The senators are vowing not to fall in line with the suggestion of the governors that the vice-president should continue to act without a letter from Yar’Adua, asking him to follow the constitutional provisions.

The standpoint of the senators, most especially those who had signed up to initiate a process of proper handover of power to Jonathan was that the governors were not competent to order them on what to do,  especially as they see this as interference in the affairs of the Senate.

The senators, in separate interviews with the Nigerian Tribune, stated that since no member of the Senate had been instructing his or her governor on what to do on  state matters, it would be wrong for the governors to think of influencing any decision the Senate might take on any crucial national issue.

Some of the senators hinted that a process of impeachment might eventually be commenced against ailing President Yar’Adua in the event of his failure to transmit a letter of vacation to the National Assembly before the end of this week, as earlier demanded by the Senate.

More than two-thirds of the Senators had signed up to support power transfer to the vice-president, and are already banking on their numerical strength to kick-start an impeachment process against the president any time from next week.

However, in addition to meeting senators one on-one, the governors were said to have also met and asked the Senate President, Mr. David Mark, to encourage the process  of passing a motion in the Senate to ask the vice-president to continue performing the functions of President Yar’Adua, but not in acting capacity.

The state governors had earlier presented the position to Jonathan at the weekend, having also resolved to pay a visit to the National Assembly today to intimate senators about their stand point.

Meanwhile, Governor Saraki has said that the 36 governors did not direct the National Assembly but rather appealed to it to consider Vice-President Jonathan as the acting president of the country.

Governor Saraki disclosed this on Monday, while answering questions from newsmen in Ilorin, Kwara State.

He stated that some  people were only interested in causing confusion, adding that, that was why they  alleged that the governors were directing the National Assembly, noting that they only appealed to the legislators to move a motion to consider the vice-president as the acting president of the country.

“We hold the members of he National Assembly  in high  esteem  and   there was never a time in our  address that  we  said  we were directing the members to consider the vice-president as the acting president,” he explained.

He stressed that  it was the work  of fifth columnists who always wanted to create a scene that did not exist  in order to advance their own interests.

On  the  just concluded  election in Anambra State, Dr Saraki commended INEC for the peaceful way it was conducted.

Governor Saraki, who congratulated Governor Peter Obi, on his re-election, added that the election was keenly contested.

He called on other  contestants to join hands with Governor Obi in moving the state forward.

The House of Representatives commenced moves on Monday to reverse itself on its last week’s resolution not to ask President Yar’Adua to hand over powers to Vice-President Jonathan as some caucus leaders met Speaker ‘Dimeji Bankole late into the night to make him see the need to urge Yar’Adua to now comply with Section 145 of the constitution.

Nigerian Tribune gathered on Monday night that certain leaders of geo-political zones in the House met with the Speaker and raised the issue of the prolonged absence of President Yar’Adua from the country for medical treatment  and the growing agitation of the people, to which the state governors have also jumped on the bandwagon.

According to a source, the affected caucus leaders were said to have booked an appointment with the Speaker with the objective of letting him see the urgent need to have the motion to have Yar’Adua transmit a letter to the National Assembly leadership to enable Vice-President Jonathan to act as president re-presented on the floor.

A motion sponsored by Honourable Abdul, representing Bauchi State, and presented on the floor last week was defeated amid rowdiness that attended debate on it.

According to findings, the resolve of the affected leaders to have Honourable Abdul’s motion revisited was borne out of agitations by not a few lawmakers and the clamour from some unexpected quarters in the larger society, including the Governors’ Forum, Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN), among others.

Dr. Saraki, who led his colleagues to a closed-door parley last week with Vice- President Jonathan at the Presidential Villa, had shortly after concluding the meeting, told newsmen that the Forum had resolved to meet with the leadership of the National Assembly and urged that powers be transferred to the vice-president to enable him to act until President Yar’Adua returned to the country.

It was gathered that the leaders, who were hopeful to get the endorsement of the Speaker, Honour-able Bankole, to have the Yar’Adua issue revisited between today and Wednesday latest, were said to have also planned to hold enlarged caucuses’ meetings shortly before today’s plenary session scheduled to commence at 10.00 a.m.

A source told the Nigerian Tribune that it was now the belief of the leaders of the caucus that the House of Representatives was the representatives of the people and in the situation that Nigeria had found itself, there was no more need to sit on the fence as almost everybody appeared to have agreed that Vice-President Jonathan should act, pending the return of President Yar’Adua.

“There is no more need to sit on the fence on the issue. Now that almost everybody is saying the same thing that Vice-President Jonathan should act, then what are we waiting for.

“The court has made pronouncement. The PDP is saying the same thing, the Governors’ Forum has said the vice-president should be allowed to act as president.

“As true representatives of the people of Nigeria, since the people have spoken, what are we then waiting for?” The source asked.

However, it was learnt that giving the near impossibility that a letter, as required by Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution, would emanate from President Yar’Adua whose current health condition could not be ascertained, the House might just pass a resolution as ask Vice-President Jonathan to take over as acting president at a stipulated time.

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