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Tag: Buhari’s impeachment

  • Insecurity: Opposition Senators Stage Walkout Over Call For Buhari’s Impeachment

    Insecurity: Opposition Senators Stage Walkout Over Call For Buhari’s Impeachment

    Senators from opposition parties on Wednesday staged a walkout following a call to impeach President Muhammadu Buhari.

    This followed mild drama that played out during the plenary in the upper chamber of the National Assembly in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

    The Minority Leader of the Senate, Senator Phillip Aduda, had raised a point of order asking the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, to discuss the security situation in the country and the impeachment of President Buhari.

    But Senator Lawan, who presided over the plenary, declined the request of the minority leader, saying the point of order raised fell flat on its face.

    Angered by the action of the Senate President, all the lawmakers elected on the platforms of all political parties other than the All Progressives Congress (APC) took turns to walk out of the legislative chamber while the plenary was ongoing.

    Senator Aduda later briefed reporters at the National Assembly complex on behalf of his aggrieved colleagues.

    According to him, the opposition senators have issued a six-week ultimatum to President Muhammadu Buhari to tackle the security challenges bedevilling the country.

    They agreed to commence impeachment proceedings against the President should he fail to address the insecurity within the period given by the lawmakers.

    The action by the opposition lawmakers is the latest in a series of concerns raised by various individuals and groups amid the rising spate of insecurity in the country.

    Hours before the plenary, a human rights activist, Professor Chidi Odinkalu, criticised President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration over the manner in which it is handling the security challenges in the country.

    Odinkalu, a former Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), decried the level of insecurity in the country, especially the renewed attacks by terrorists in recent times.

    Although he acknowledged various critical roles of the President, the stressed that the country would be better secure with adequate coordination.

    The former NHRC chief advised the President to delegate some of the roles, except that of a Commander-in-Chief.

    “There is only one element in the job of the President that can never be delegated as long as the President is terrestrial, that is a Commander-in-Chief,” said Odinkalu when he appeared as a guest on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily.

    “If the President is in the hospital and under life support, he cannot delegate the job of the Commander-in-Chief, and when the Commander-in-Chief is as lazy and uncaring as the one that Nigeria has, the country is exactly where it deserves to be.”

  • Calls for Buhari’s impeachment by Hon. Chinda a lone voice says Kalu

    Calls for Buhari’s impeachment by Hon. Chinda a lone voice says Kalu

    Doris Ferdinand

    The house of Representatives spokesperson, Hon. Benjamin Kalu has described the call for the impeachment of the president by Hon Chinda as a lone voyage.

    Kalu disclosed this in a press statement where he said that the call for the President’s impeachment by Hon Chinda is his personal opinion and does not represent the voice of the entire members of the , House of Representatives.

    The statement reads in part:

    “The attention of the House of Representatives and her leadership has been drawn to the press release by Hon Kingsley Chinda, titled “ Nigeria saddled with the circus” circulated over most dailies on the 6th of December , 2020, where he called on constituents irrespective of political party, tribe or religion to compel their representatives to commence impeachment process against the president .

    “This opinion of a single member of the opposition party in the house has been misinterpreted by journalists as the voice of the entire House of Representatives when it does not represent the weakest opinion of the minority-caucus of the 9th House . Even among the minority caucus , Hon Kingsley Chinda lost the opportunity to speak for the entire minority when he lost the minority leadership election to Hon Ndudi Elumelu the minority leader of the 9th Assembly, a wound that has refused to heal.

    “It is the structure of the minority caucus leadership and majority caucus leadership that is recognised by the house as any statement not emanating from these and the spokesperson of the house does not in any way reflect either the minority , majority or general position of the 9th House of Representatives and should be disregarded like his other divisive , distracting, destabilising and destructive positions . Just last week the speaker warned the media to desist from ascribing to the house the opinion of a single member , since we have a spokesperson.

    “The motive behind this press release as well as the timing leaves a bitter taste in the mouth of most progressives who were instructed by their constituents to request for an interaction with the president , a task many thought was not possible seeing that in the history of our Modern democracy none of the past presidents obliged the parliamentary request for an interactive session and none of the past leaderships of the assembly was able to use parliamentary back channel diplomacy, adopted and applied by the current leadership to secure the acceptance of Mr President to this invitation. An outing that has strengthened our democratic principles .

    “If this call came post President’s visit for the failure to dialogue well enough in securing solutions or due to his inability to put our positions to use , it would appear logical . This call is not only illogical , It appears as a tool strategically thrown up to disrupt the agenda of the coming visit with all it sets out to achieve in the spirit of nation building which remains the mantra of the 9th Assembly and is considered a joint task .

    “In the view of the 9th Assembly , it would remain a call made wrongfully to distract the members whose minds are set on the visit and the expected achievements . It is surprising, that Hon Kingsley Chinda, was among those who insisted on the invitation of the president , probably expecting a gross disregard from the president who surprisingly broke the jinx and kindly obliged our request . Isn’t it obvious that apparently shocked by the acceptance of Mr. President, he is on a new lonely voyage of personal agenda strange to the legislative agenda of the house and leadership . Where was his constitutional impeachment voice when his previous presidents of PDP extractions were invited but ignored the house , wondering why he is just remembering his constitution now that a president is coming to accept our inputs to the solutions he is seeking”. He said.

    Kalu therefore urge Nigerians to be patient and await the outcome of the meeting with the President and not to allow hemselves to be mislead by an opinion that does not speak for the entire house.

    “I therefore, assure Nigerians that having asked us to invite Mr President , which we have done , you should be patient to wait for the outcome of our meeting, before been misled by a alone voice on the frolic of his own, whose private opinion in no way represents the position of the House of Representatives.

    “We have only invited Mr. President for an interactive session and cannot be distracted by those with other self not house motivated agenda.” Kalu added.