The Federal High Court in Abuja has declared that President Muhammadu Buhari cannot legally double as the Minister of Petroleum Resources.
The court made the declaration on Thursday while giving judgment in a suit filed last year by a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Dr. Olisa Agbakoba (SAN).
Agbakoba had, in the suit, urged the court to restrain Buhari from continuing to hold the office of the Minister of Petroleum Resources.
The SAN had contended that the 1999 Constitution forbids the President from “holding any other executive office or paid employment.”
The court in its ruling said there would have been a violation if Buhari had not appointed someone else — Dr. Ibe Kachikwu — to oversee the day-to-day running of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources.
