The Action Congress, on Sunday, said that the long absence of President Umaru Yar’Adua from Nigeria had compounded the country’s problems and rendered it open to greater challenges.

The AC, in a statement endorsed by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said those left in charge of the nation were lacking in character.

It said, “When we said, in one of our numerous appraisals of the state of the nation, that the ship of state was adrift and that the captain was in a deep slumber - and that was even when President Umaru Yar’Adua was fully in the saddle - we never imagined that the ship would drift this far and that the sea would become this turbulent.

“Since the President left these shores 77 days ago, our country has faced perhaps the toughest test yet in its recent history, while the survival of our young democracy has been threatened more than at any other time since our return to civilian rule in 1999.

“Times like this call for rare courage, and they demand men and women who can rise to the occasion and lift their country out of the doldrums.

“Unfortunately, those who happen to be at the helm of affairs at this critical time are not men of steel. They lack character, they lack courage and patriotism, and have instead put personal and parochial interest over and above national interest.”

The AC accused some members of the Federal Executive Council of deception and not being committed to the spirit of the constitution.

“We have men like Justice Minister and Attorney-General Michael Aondoakaa, who sought early on to muddle the waters by saying the President can rule even from the moon; that governance was going on unhindered even when he was reportedly on life support.

“We practise constitutional democracy but it seems only when it suits us; because if we had adhered strictly to the tenets of our constitution, if we had not made the rule of law mantra of the Yar’Adua administration a mere cliché, the ongoing crisis would not have arisen at all,” the party said.

It called for the recourse to relevant sections of the constitution on Yar’Adua’s absence, saying it was the only way out of the present situation.

It said, “As we in the AC said earlier on and kept harping on, Sections 144 and 145, imperfect as they are, envisaged the kind of situation in which we have found ourselves. Strictly observed, especially as it concerns Section 145, Nigeria would not have been left to swash around as we currently are.

The AC, while criticizing the role of the 36 state governors, said they lied to Nigerians and were now trying to confuse them further. According to the party, “It is necessary to also appraise the role so far played by governors of the 36 states who, as a bloc, are very influential.

“First, some governors –in what capacity we do not know- who on getting to Saudi Arabia were prevented from seeing the ailing President in his hospital, came back to lie to Nigerians that all was well with the President.

“Today, they are paying solidarity visits to Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan and, curiously, demanding a resolution from the National Assembly empowering the VP to act.

“First, critical time has passed between their deliberate inaction and this moment of knee-jerk action. Secondly, their call is, with due respect, meaningless.

“Where in the constitution is it said that a resolution of the National Assembly is sufficient for the VP to act as President? Could this have been designed to further confuse issues? The only way the National Assembly can be relevant at this stage is to evoke the impeachment clause, in case the President fails to hand over.

“Anything else is a joke, and any decision taken by the VP acting only on the strength of a National Assembly resolution is prone to legal challenge.”

The AC, while listing some of the losses resulting from the President’s long absence from the country, called for the immediate inauguration of the VP to avert further damages.

On some the consequences of Yar’Adua’s absence, the AC said, “Today, the consequences of the President’s failure to legally hand over to Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan are there for all to see.

“Tension is high across the land, as no one is sure who is in charge and rumours persist that the President is comatose.

“Investors are jittery, as no one will put his hard-earned resources in an environment shrouded in uncertainty.

“On the diplomatic front, Nigeria has no means of interfacing with the global community. The country’s leadership role in Africa is fast becoming history.

“Nigeria’s voice was muted at the recent Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, as it was at the African Union Summit that just rounded off in Addis Ababa.

“ECOWAS has shifted its summit twice, because President Yar’Adua who should preside over it as chairman of the regional bloc is nowhere to be seen. But the most serious consequence of the President’s long absence without transferring power has been in the Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab’s case.”