By Emmanuel Nduka
The move to impeach President Muhammadu Buhari by the Senate over his failure to address the worsening insecurity in the country gained momentum on Thursday, as House of Representatives members in the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have thrown their weight behind their colleagues in the upper chamber.
The rep members resolved that at the expiration of the six-week ultimatum given to President Buhari to address the issues, they would be forced to issue an impeachment notice to him, just as they vowed that they would immediately commence the gathering of signatures from members to remove Buhari from office.
Speaking in Abuja at a joint meeting of the Senate and House of Representatives PDP Caucus, the Minority leader of the Lower Chamber, Honourable Ndudi Elumelu, Aniocha/ Oshimili Federal Constituency, Delta State warned the Presidency that when the process of the Impeachment of the President Buhari commences, it would then realise that lawmakers are not confused people.
The meeting which took place at hearing room 1, White House, Senate Wing was chaired by the Senate Minority Leader, Senator Philip Tanimu Aduda, PDP, FCT, and had in attendance PDP lawmakers from both the lower and upper chambers of the National Assembly.
Elumelu who took a swipe at the Buhari led Government, lamented that at the moment, people can no longer travel because of kidnapping. “People can no longer fly because of lack of Aviation fuel, private schools are closed down, farmers can no longer go to the farms for insecurity, among other very difficult issues in the country,” he lamented.
“They have given 6 to 8 weeks for Mr. President to address the insecurity that is, of course, affecting this nation, and I want to also join on behalf of my colleagues to also say that upon the expiration, we will proffer ways of ensuring that we will gather all the signatures.
“And let me make it clear. Those who are thinking that it is only the issue of PDP or the minority caucus, no. Many of our colleagues under the bipartisanship are affected. Many of them are affected. So, they may not be speaking but we may be speaking for them. And when them time comes. I heard somebody this morning saying it is a laughable attempt to want do that. Perhaps, when the action starts, the person will find out that it’s not a laughable action. It’s real and we will not stand to allow this nation collapse.
“We think that it is high time, the insecurity of this nation is addressed. And of course, we also have the issue of oil theft which has risen, now making it difficult for us to earn income from oil revenue. And these and many others are the reasons we are joining our colleagues in the Senate to ask Mr. President to address the insecurity of this nation within 6 and 8 weeks. Otherwise, we will find the constitutional means to ensure that we serve him an impeachment notice,” Elumelu said.
Speaking on the state of the nation, the House Minority Leader said, “The nation has been awash with what happened yesterday in the Senate where our colleagues had to walk out in protest as to the state of the nation as regards to the issue of insecurity in the nation. Concurrently, even though we did not do it exactly the way they did it, we also drew the House attention as to what is happening in Nigeria, most importantly in FCT.
“In FCT, just few weeks back, Kuje Prison was invaded. Few days back, the law school on Bwari road, some very, very important Nigerians who at their youth in the armed forces were butchered by the insurgents. As if that was not enough, the minister of education gave an instruction that all our children should leave, vacate their various schools. Yesterday, the FCT minister directed that all private schools should be closed.
“And I gave a warning on the floor of the House, advising my colleagues that Abuja is no longer safe and that is the truth. If Abuja is safe, why should the minister of education under APC led government instruct that every child in every college or school should vacate and parents should come and collect their children. Why should the FCT minister himself direct that private school should close? This in effect gives a signal that Abuja is not safe.”
