Reacting to a suit filed last year by the former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Dr. Olisa Agbakoda (SAN) , the Federal High Court in Abuja has declared that President Muhammadu Buhari can according to the law, double as the Minister of Petroleum Resources. Agbakoba who had urged the court to restrain Buhari from continuing to hold the office of the Minister of Petroleum Resources backed his argument by stating that Section 138 of the 1999 Constitution forbids the President from “holding any other executive office or paid employment.”
However, after the court over ruled his argument, Agbakoba said on Friday that “the court in deciding the case held against Buhari had not violated Section 138, since he is not directly in charge of the day-to-day running of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources” .The court said that there would have been a breach of the law if Buhari had not appointed Dr. Ibe Kachikwu to oversee the day-to-day running of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources. 
The court further explained that the phrase “hold” in Section 138 of the constitution “meant to preside, act, to possess, occupy or conduct the actual day to day running of the office.” The court reiterated that: “Merely proclaiming/announcing that he (the President) was the Minister of Petroleum is not enough to conclude that he holds the office of minister,”.
Photo Credit: Getty
