Ailing President and the Attorney-General

The Attorney General of the Federation, Chief Michael Aondoakaa said on Tuesday 17th December, that President Umaru Yar‘Adua, irrespective of his state of health, can carry out his official duties from any part of the world without being physically present in the country.
The opposition or the voice of the masses, Action Congress issued a statement through their National Publicity Secretaries, Alhaji Lai Mohammed and describing the story by the Minister as an attempt to deceive Nigerians with what they called ”his string of poorly-thought-out statements bordering on the ill-health of the President.” Other commentators described his statement as unfortunate.
Action Congress said, ”If the framers of our constitution had wanted the President to rule from a distance, it would not have dwelt on the need for the President to hand over to his deputy if he is proceeding on vacation or otherwise unable to carry out his official functions for whatever reasons.Unfortunately, many members of the President‘s cabinet, in their desperate bid to ingratiate themselves to him, are ready to distort the constitution and even peddle bold-facing lies. It is particularly sad when the official leading such a campaign of lies and deceit is the country‘s chief law officer. The minister was previously quoted as saying President Yar Adua's ailment is 'minor', even when the President has been in Saudi Arabia for the past 23 days as at December 16. With his latest comments, which have not been denied, Minister Michael Aondoakaa has hit a new low.”
The party also stated that it was a fact that many of the President Yar Adua's aides and ministers are self-serving rather than being concerned about the sick President.
The Federal Executive Council is supposed to act in accordance with the provisions of the constitution by commencing the process of ascertaining whether the President could continue in office or not on account of his ailing health but the council members would not. They are only interested in personal gains.
The Attorney General of the Federation, Chief Michael Aondoakaa is one of the politicians that has benefitted so much from this administration and would not want the President to resign no matter how sick he is. But as the chief law officer of the federation, is he not violating the 1999 Constitution by insisting that the President has not done anything wrong in travelling out of the country for weeks without handing over to the Vice President?. He is constitutionally empowered to advise the President and interpret Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution as regard absentism.
The CNPP also condemned the Attorney General outburst and issued a statement. The following extract is from their statement ”CNPP is happy that President Yar‘Adua is recovering; however we are of the candid view that he should avail himself of Section 145 so as to enable him to recover fully, devoid of distraction from state duties; after which he will be back on duty.”
To them the fundamentals of the President‘s functions disallowed him from ruling from the Diaspora. According to the Constitution, the President should be holding regular meetings with the Vice President and all the Ministers of the Government Section 148(2).
”Does the constitution want the President to be in Saudi Arabia and his ministers scattered all over the nations and are holding the necessary meetings expected of them from abroad? Are they shifting Nigerian cabinet to Saudi Arabia? Is Aondoakaa saying that we should now compromise our sovereignty and allow our Aso Rock to be shifted to Saudi Arabia?”
The Attorney General should tell us what the position is. To me the man is full of inconsistencies.