Senators Join House Members In Signing Impeachment Notice Against Goodluck NIGERIAN senators have joined their counterparts in the House of Representatives in implementing at impeachments proceedings against President Goodluck Jonathan in response to his recent decision to seal off the National Assembly. On Thursday, soldiers and policemen sealed off the National Assembly complex preventing members of the House of Representatives from gaining entry into the premises. This was in response to the recent defection of the speaker of the House, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal to the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Following the locking of the National Assembly, which forced several legislators to clamber over the fence to get into the building, as many as 148 members of the House of representatives signed the impeachment notice. This plot has now spread to the Senate, with a growing number of Senators enthusiastic to team up with the members of the lower chamber to get the president impeached. They are unhappy with the growing impunity by the federal government, which not only culminated in the sealing off of the National Assembly but also resulted in armed policemen tear-gassing parliamentarians. Eventually, the legislators forced their way in and got speaker Tambuwal to his chair in the chamber. Several senators, led by those from the northeast where President Jonathan proposes to extend the emergency rule in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States, are said to be leading the plot. They have begun meeting to plan how to convince and win other senators to buy into and support the pro- impeachment lawmakers. One Senate source said: “Things will get clearer by Tuesday 25 when the Senate will resume plenary. I know of a fact that there have been series of clandestine meetings where the plot was mooted.” In a bid to derail the plot, the Senate leadership is said to be labouring to calm frayed nerves as a motion for impeachment may be moved as early as December 3. One Senator added that things will no longer be the same in the National Assembly.
Posted on: Sun, 23 Nov 2014 05:40:48 +0000