Jonathan and Mohammed
The
All Progressives Congress has called on the National Assembly to
immediately commence the process of impeaching President Goodluck
Jonathan for alleged gross misconduct.
It said in a statement on Sunday by its
Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, that
Jonathan’s impeachment would save Nigeria from imminent collapse.
But the Presidency warned the APC and
others, who it said were bent on plunging the nation into political
instability, to be ready for the consequences of treasonable action.
The opposition party, however, said it
made the call with a high sense of responsibility and strong belief
that the impeachment of the President was a legitimate constitutional
option available to the National Assembly not only to protect the
nation’s democracy, but to ensure its unity.
It explained that it based the call for Jonathan’s impeachment on the dangerous drifting of the country.
The APC added that there was a total
failure of leadership, insecurity, unprecedented corruption, impunity,
massive unemployment and hunger in the country.
The statement reads in part, ‘’Since the
raison d’etre of any government is the security and welfare of the
citizenry, and the present administration has failed to live up to the
justification of its existence, there can be no other definition of
gross misconduct but that.
“Therefore, the time has come for the
head of that government, on whose desk the buck stops, to be removed
through the provisions stipulated in the 1999 Constitution. This is the
patriotic thing to do.”
The APC warned that if the National
Assembly failed to act very fast, it would share with the “clueless
and feckless” Jonathan administration, the blame for dashing the
hopes of millions of Nigerians, especially the youth.
The party said it was necessary for
anyone who might say the call for the impeachment of the President was
outlandish to remember that all it would take to torpedo the current
democracy was “for this increasingly-paranoid government to get a pliant
judge to put a judicial stamp on just one of its litany of
illegalities.”
The party also wondered why the PDP could go to court to challenge the defection of five of its governors.
It recalled that an attempt by the
ruling party to declare the seat of the then Vice-President Atiku
Abubakar vacant was rejected by the Supreme Court, when he defected to
the then Action Congress of Nigeria.
It wondered what could have been the motive behind the latest action of the PDP.
The APC said, ‘’What then can be the
sole motive behind the PDP’s action? To plunge Nigeria into chaos?
This is why we issued a strong warning in our statement of December 5
in which we said, ‘We wish to state unequivocally that should the PDP go
ahead with this plan, there will be widespread repercussions as the APC
has resolved that, henceforth, every act of impunity of the PDP and the
Presidency will be met with stiff resistance in the form of a
vociferous telegraphing of people’s power, the likes of which have not
been witnessed in these parts.’
“We reiterate those words today (Sunday),
and make bold to say that not even the revelation by former President
Olusegun Obasanjo that snipers are being trained secretly and that 1,000
people have been placed on political watch, will deter us from saving
this democracy, which was watered by the sweat and blood of many
patriots, long before this generation of opportunists stormed the
political scene.”
The opposition said while Nigerians
were very much aware of the failings of the Jonathan government in all
sectors, it was important to remind them that the administration
had, in particular, not been up to scratch in fighting corruption.
The party said the government had also
failed to provide jobs for Nigerian youths, even as it daily reels out
phantom figures of economic growth that only serve to keep the so-called
Ivy League-trained officials in charge of the economy on their jobs.
The APC added, “The talk out there now
is that Nigeria has never had it so bad. But the government may not know
because it has distanced itself from the people.
“Therefore, for embracing corruption so
much and providing succour to corrupt public officials, for threatening
the country’s fragile unity through divisive policies and politics, for
frittering away the nation’s resources through unprecedented cronyism
and clannishness, and for a total failure of leadership, this President
deserves to be slammed with the cudgel of impeachment.’’
When contacted, the Chairman, Senate
Committee on Information, Media and Public Affairs, Senator Eyinnaya
Abaribe, said the Senate was not aware of the call for the President’ s
impeachment by the APC
“I can only react to issues and matters
before the Senate that have been concluded. No letter or motion has been
brought before the Senate on the issue,” he said.
But the Presidency, in a statement by
the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben
Abati, dismissed the call as opportunistic, partisan and
ill-motivated.
“The Presidency warns that the APC and
any person who make themselves its willing tools for the breach of
public order and safety will be made to face the full sanctions of the
law. Those who are threatening fire and brimstone should be ready for
the consequences of treasonable action,” it said.
It advised Nigerians to distinguish
between reckless violations of civic duty and the urgent need to
protect the integrity of the nation against those who for selfish
reasons had declared their readiness to stop at nothing.
While describing the call as reckless
and irresponsible, the Presidency warned that the Federal Government
would not standby and let the nation be plunged into unnecessary
political instability.
The statement reads in part, “We have
noted with utter disdain, the reckless and irresponsible call by the
APC on Sunday for the National Assembly to commence impeachment
proceedings against President Goodluck Jonathan.
“Ordinarily, we would not have dignified
Alhaji Lai Mohammed’s latest vituperations in the service of his
paymasters with a response, but we thought it necessary to warn that the
Federal Government will not standby idly and let the nation be plunged
into unnecessary crises and political instability because of the
desperation and apparent readiness of the APC spokesman and his gang of
power-seeking desperadoes to sacrifice the well-being of the country on
the altar of their selfish personal ambitions.
“The Presidency totally condemns the
decision by Alhaji Mohammed and his party to move further beyond the
bounds of honourable and acceptable political conduct with the senseless
call for the impeachment of a President who continues to sincerely
devote himself to the discharge of the sacred mandate freely given to
him by Nigerians.
“The APC, which remains a minority party
with doubtful credentials in the National Assembly, knows fully well
that its attempt to hector and blackmail a parliament dominated by loyal
members of the President’s party, the PDP, into an impeachment process,
will come to nothing.
“But it has cavalierly embarked on this
outrageous gambit, with scant regard for peace, order, security and
political stability in the country in furtherance of its dastardly and
heinous strategy of over-heating the polity and working to cause public
disaffection against the Jonathan Presidency with lies, false
accusations and unjustifiable indictments ahead of the 2015 general
elections.”
The Presidency said it considered it
deplorable that the APC had in its Machiavellian desperation recklessly
assailed the integrity and honour of the judiciary.
It added, “We have noted the undisguised
threat by the APC to foster public insurrection against the Federal
Government if pending legal cases go against it.
“We dismiss the APC’s call for the President’s impeachment as opportunistic, partisan and ill-motivated.”
The PDP also described the call by the APC as “irresponsible, malicious and self-seeking.”
“The call is part of the plan by the APC
to truncate this democracy and we will not allow it, ” the PDP
spokesperson, Chief Olisa Metuh, said.
He added, “The APC had planned to cause
mayhem during the governorship election in Anambra State, but God did
not allow that to happen.
“Its members want to engineer turmoil and
breakdown of law and order in the country. They know that they cannot
win the 2015 general elections because Nigerians have rejected them.”
Metuh asked Nigerians to be wary of the activities of the members of the opposition party.
He also called on them to hold the opposition party responsible for any breakdown of law and order in the country.
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