Former Senate President, David Mark, has pushed back against claims made by a former Minister of Youth Development and Sports, Bolaji Abdullahi, regarding the origin of the Doctrine of Necessity.
Mark maintained that the initiative to invoke the Doctrine of Necessity came from the Senate and not from the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) under the leadership of former Kwara State Governor, Bukola Saraki.
He said the doctrine, which enabled then Vice President Goodluck Jonathan to assume office as Acting President, was entirely a legislative decision.
Speaking on Tuesday in Abuja at the public unveiling of Abdullahi’s memoir, The Loyalist, Mark, who is now the National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress, insisted that the move was not influenced by any individual or group from Kwara State.
Earlier, Abdullahi had claimed that the NGF, led by Saraki, was the first body to advance the idea of the Doctrine of Necessity, contrary to the widely held view that it originated from the National Assembly.
Following weeks of political uncertainty, the Senate on February 10 invoked the Doctrine of Necessity to swear in then Vice President Goodluck Jonathan as Acting President.
This followed the prolonged absence of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, who had been away since November 23, 2009, due to ill health, without forwarding a written declaration as required under Section 145 of the 1999 Constitution. The resolution granted Jonathan full presidential authority pending Yar’Adua’s recovery and return.
In his 297-page autobiography, Abdullahi disclosed that his first exposure to the term “Doctrine of Necessity” came when Saraki contacted him from Abuja and requested that he draft a statement proposing the idea to the National Assembly.
In the book, Abdullahi wrote, “The edgy relationship between Saraki and Jonathan roots largely in the Yar’Adua presidency. At the time, Saraki was the all-powerful chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, who also enjoyed a close personal relationship with the president.
“Jonathan, on the other hand, was the largely neglected vice president who lurked in the shadows. It was therefore easy for Jonathan to feel that Saraki and his fellow governors, cavorting with Yar’Adua, looked down on him as that ‘deputy governor,’ even though he was now the number two citizen in the country.
“By whatever means, Yar’Adua himself had been aware of his vice’s unease with Saraki and once asked him to see Jonathan and smooth things over. Saraki did as the president asked, but in such meetings where there were no concrete issues, civility tends to override candour, and everything was generally papered over.
“Then, Yar’Adua died, and the Jonathan era began. Apart from the residual animosity, whatever the basis for it, the belief in the Jonathan circle was that Saraki played a leading role in frustrating Jonathan’s official takeover as acting president and helped Yar’Adua hang onto power even as he lay dying in a Saudi hospital.
“In reality, however, it was Saraki’s NGF that proposed the Doctrine of Necessity, which was adopted by the National Assembly to pave the way for Jonathan’s formal ascendance as acting president.
“I actually heard about the term ‘Doctrine of Necessity’ for the first time when Governor Saraki called from Abuja asking me to draft a statement to propose it to the National Assembly.”
Reacting to the claims, Mark, who presided over the Senate at the time, dismissed any link between the doctrine and Saraki or Kwara State.
He said, “Mission to rescue Nigeria is collective. He is a straightforward person, and even when I disagreed with him, his advice was always adopted. He is a committed Nigerian, very patriotic. Most Nigerians are interested in personal benefits. He has paid his dues and done his best.
“The Doctrine of Necessity is the sole responsibility of the Senate and has nothing to do with Kwara State or anyone from Kwara State. It was the sole responsibility of the Senators of that time.”