BY KABIR Dankatsina
The All Progressive Congress (APC) in Kebbi State has lambasted a circular instructing Governor Nasir Idris Kauran Gwandu to transmit power to his Deputy, Senator Umar Abubakar Tafida during his absence.
Recall that, Governor Nasir left the state on Friday June 7th to Saudi Arabia in the last flight with other pilgrims of the state.
Public Relations Officer of APC in the state, Isah Abubakar Assalafi made the condemnation in a rejoinder he issued over the circular which was made available to journalists in Birnin Kebbi.
He said “Our attention has been drawn to the campaign of calumny orchestrated by the Peoples Democratic Party in the state in an attempt to tarnish the image of the current administration under the able leadership of His Excellency Dr Comrade Nasir Idris Kauran Gwandu with regards to the transmission of power by the governor during his absence which the PDP claimed to indicated that provisions of Constitution particularly Section 190(1) and (2) of the Constitution of federal republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended.
But according to him, in order to set the record straight, It is instructive to note that by the provision of Section 5(2)(a) of the Constitution, the Executive powers of a state are vested in the Governor to be exercised by him in person and may delegate some of his responsibilities to his Deputy and Commissioners
He added that similarly, under section 193(1) of the Constitution, the delegation of Executive powers of the Governor to the Deputy Governor and Commissioners is Discretionary not Mandatory , the section reads thus ” The Governor of a State may in his Discretion, assign to the Deputy or any Commissioner of the Government of the State responsibility for any business of the Government of that state , including the administration of any department of Government
The Spokesman of the APC however noted that in the light of the above postulations , the transmission of powers to the Deputy Governor under section 190(1) and (2) is not Mandatory but rather Discretionary.
He advised the People’s Democratic Party to avoid isolated interpretation but rather to adopt a wider approach to Constitutional interpretation and to desist from false and fabricated Claims as well to adopt constructive ideas aimed at moving Kebbi state into a higher pedestal.
