THE DEATH OF PRESIDENT UMARU MUSA YAR'ADUA AND THE DOCTRINE OF NECESSITY IN NIGERIA, 2007-2010

Abstract

Yar'Adua's health condition generated a lot of controversy in Nigeria. It brought to the fore the need for constitutional amendment to close up the vacuum or lacuna in the Nigerian constitution. The socio-political cum economic implications of not ascertaining the true medical status of a presidential hopeful in a heterogonous nation like Nigeria, where ethnicism and religion play a key role in political decisions cannot be over emphasized. President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua's case is a typical example. It threatened the peaceful co-existence of the country and allowed political opportunists manipulate information about the health conditions of the President to their selfish advantages. The Doctrine of Necessity is a basis on which extra-legal actions by the Executive Arm of a state actor which are designed to restore order are found to be constitutional. The research examined the effect of a constitutional lacuna that arose as a result of the failure of President Musa Yar'adua not transmitting a letter to the National Assembly before traveling to Saudi Arabia for medical treatment in 2009 and the subsequent invocation of the Doctrine of Necessity (which is a political concept or utilitarian idea that is used to define and validate extra-constitutional issues which are not fully captured by the constitution of a country but are necessary to preserve the political stability in the country) by the NationalAssembly. The study tries to elucidate the meaning, evolution, application and the consequences of the Doctrine of Necessity to Nigeria's Political Arena. It also brought to the fore the constitutional crises that nearly rocked the foundation of the country and the need for a constitutional review to avoid such events or the abuse of the Doctrine of Necessity by the Nigerian leadership. The research adopted historical method of research, which makes effective use of various models of discussions and analysis of both primary (oral) and secondary (written) sources. The method of analysis is basically qualitative. Interdisciplinary approach method of examination of issues under discussion was also adopted in interpretation of data collected: The study hopes to solve the problem of how best the Doctrine of Necessity can be applied to Nigerian situation considering her socio-economic cum political situation.