Our inclusion in impeachment list, a scam –PDP Reps The deputy Majority Leader, Mr. Leo Ogor, and some other Peoples Democratic Party members of the House of Representatives have described as a scam the inclusion of their names in the list of Reps in support of President Goodluck Jonathan’s impeachment. Ogor told P.I.N on Friday that the claim of PDP members joining the purported impeachment plot was a huge joke. He described it as laughable and cheap blackmail to mention the President’s key men in the House as being part of the plot. The PDP lawmaker from Delta State added, This is clearly a scam. This is cheap blackmail by people who have lost direction. How can anyone say Mulikat (Akande-Adeola) and Leo Ogor are on the list to impeach Jonathan? How can the President’s henchmen be the ones to impeach him again? They say they have over 200 people and they list PDP members, including myself and the majority leader? Is it not laughable? Ogor advised Jonathan to lose no sleep but continue with his transformation agenda. He claimed the PDP caucus was intact and was prepared for any group that would dare to move any impeachment motion on the floor of the House. Similarly the Vice-Chairman, House Committee on Information Communication Technology, Mr. Tajudeen Yusuf, flayed the inclusion of his name in the list of lawmakers plotting to remove Jonathan. Yusuf, a PDP member from Kogi State, expressed shock over the development, saying he condemned the act. He said the impeachment was an agenda of the opposition All Progressives Congress, which had nothing to do with him. Describing the list as fictitious, Yusuf challenged the promoters of the impeachment project to come out in the open to defend it. He also demanded the publication of the full list of the members. He said, I have never, at anytime, and will never sit, join, participate in any meeting to discuss any move that will work against President Goodluck Jonathan’s lofty transformation agenda, his government or the PDP. It is ridiculous and evil for the APC in its unfortunate propaganda to insert names of PDP members, in their ungodly and inept antics to cause crisis in the polity. The APC should not delude itself by ascribing to its members what they don’t have. Just like in the past, the PDP remains the majority in the House and at no time did PDP lose majority in the House. Efforts to reach Akande-Adeola failed as she neither picked her calls nor replied to a text message sent to her. The reaction of PDP Reps exposed the widening crack in the impeachment plans. Investigations showed the widening division was as a result of more PDP members of the House, becoming hesitant and avoiding being drawn into a hasty confrontation with Mr. President. It was gathered that the crack might be a stumbling block for the mandatory two-thirds majority (240 out of 360 members) required to impeach Jonathan. Lawmakers, largely from the APC, began compiling signatures to impeach Jonathan soon after last Thursday’s alleged invasion of the National Assembly by the police and hooded Department of State Service agents. The compilation had gathered momentum, hitting about 131 after some PDP members reportedly joined the fray. But investigations revealed that some of the PDP lawmakers, who earlier shared ideas on Jonathan’s case with their APC colleagues, were unable to break into the main PDP group to sell the ideas successfully. However, another member, who pleaded not to be named, insisted that the plan was on course and had the backing of some PDP legislators. The APC source berated Jonathan for allegedly killing the business of politics. The source criticised the President for allegedly using state security apparatuses to muzzle the opposition. The source said, This President is not a democrat He is not The PDP people do not want opposition. They are threatening people all over the place, using the police and other agents of intimidation. Why is the President killing politics? Politics is the only business we have as politicians, but he is killing it. We will keep the impeachment plan on course; this is the first time we have come this far, having the determination to compile signatures. The Chairman, House Committee on Justice, Mr. Ahmad Ali, told P.I.N that the list had more than one-third of House members to begin the impeachment proceedings. We need one-third (120) to kick-start the process. Right now, we have far more than one-third; so, we. can start when we resume, he added. But another source claimed that PDP members were yet to be decisive because they were unsure how the upcoming primaries of the party would turn out. Many of them are holding on, hoping that they will pick a return ticket. If they can’t get the ticket, the President must be deceiving himself to conclude that all is well; he will be surprised, the source told P.I.N. The House spokesman, Mr. Zakari Mohammed, confirmed that some members were indeed compiling names to impeach Jonathan, but he said he could not speak for them. I know of signatures, but not the number or who belongs where. I don’t know how many they are, he stated. Asked whether the leadership of the House would likely interfere with the plan, Mohammed said the leadership would not take a decision on a matter not before it. I can only say, wait till we get to the bridge. We will cross it on getting there. The House is still on break till December 3, he said.
Posted on: Sun, 30 Nov 2014 09:18:52 +0000
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