Senators clash over impeachment bid on Jonathan SPECULATIONS - TopicsExpress



          

Senators clash over impeachment bid on Jonathan SPECULATIONS about impeachment plot against President Goodluck Jonathan came to the open Tuesday as Senator Alkali Abdulkadir Jajere (Yobe South) disclosed his identity as one of those that have already appended their signatures. Meanwhile, the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) members in the House of Representatives have disowned a purported impeachment list against President Jonathan in circulation, stating that it would publish the authentic one in due course. “None of our APC members in the House of Representatives is party to the fake impeachment list. The authentic list would be published in due course and we urge our constituents across the country to be so guided,” the APC Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila said in a terse statement yesterday. Jajere maintained that the much speculated impeachment plot was real and that he was the fourth on a list of 65 Senators that had allegedly signed. He added that the list which may be up to 70 as at Tuesday would be submitted the same yesterday to the appropriate authority in the Senate for initiation of the move on the floor of the Senate when it reconvenes on December 16. He said: “I have signed the impeachment notice because there are impeachable offences against President Jonathan. In 2011, this Senate approved N240 billion as subsidy fund but the same government spent N1.7trillion which is a clear breach of the Constitution, clear breach of the Appropriation Act. The business of government is to curtail excesses, but this government has shown that it is incurably deficient in handling the situations in this country. “Such government cannot say it wants to continue. The President should have even resigned without waiting to be impeached. The duty of the legislature is to act as a check and balance because it is the most important symbol of democracy. “As at last week, 63 of us have signed up for the impeachment. My signature was the fourth, but I can confirm to you that we have 63 signatures. After the session today, two people had called me and told me that they want to sign. One of them is an APC Senator who was away doing campaign because he is contesting the governorship of his state, the other person is a PDP Senator. “The impeachment issue is not just coming now. It is a process that has started early in the year but there was a hiccup. Today, there are issues that have triggered the National Assembly to do what it should do. No matter what the time, it is a three-legged issue, the National Assembly will now have to initiate the process and then, submit that process to the judiciary. The National Assembly will soon conclude our own side and submit the notice to the judiciary. But Senator Ayogu Eze refuted this claim, describing Jajere as a lair and tales by moonlight storyteller. The Enugu-born lawmaker stated that the said list is non-existent in the Senate and that even if Jajere and some other political opponents of the President practically moved to come up with such an idea on the floor of the Senate, it would be dead on arrival for them because they do not have the required number and they cannot get it. His words: “Put my word on record, Senator Jajere is a blatant liar for saying that 65 or 70 Senators have signed his alleged impeachment list against President Jonathan. The said list is non- existence in the Senate and why did you not tell him to show you the list on which he said he is number four and in particular, asked him who is number 65 there? “Yes, there are some political opponents of the President in the Senate or even disgruntled ones, but the fact is that even if they want to make such move, they cannot even get up to 10 and where are they even going to table such rubbish. We are waiting for them anyway. “Even the reason reportedly cited by the Senator for the so called impeachment move, stands logic on its head because how can you be bringing a non-existing offenses of 2011 as impeachment offences in 2014? Where were they in 2011 when the alleged offence was committed by the President and do they not even know that three other appropriation bills had been passed by the Senate after the 2011 one? “To me, Jajere is a story teller. We are waiting for him and his other signatories who are more of spirits than human beings in the Senate. And let me put it to him and his other people that if they think they can intimidate the President or PDP out of power, they are just day dreaming because the man will contest the 2015 election, and going by realities on ground, he will win. So the earlier they realize this, the better for them”. Eze appealed to politicians to be very cautious in their conducts and utterances ahead of the 2015 elections so as not to overheat the polity beyond manageable proportions. Also speaking against the said mice, Senator Sahabi Yau (Zamfara North), said he was not aware of the plot and that there was no need for such a thing which, according to him, would amount to unnecessary distraction and waste of time and energy on the part of the lawmakers. He said: “I don’t think that there is anything like impeachment in the Senate. There could be something like that in the House of Representatives but I am not aware of such development in the Senate. “Maybe some people are doing it underground, but nobody has contacted me on the issue. For now, it is a rumour. The process is cumbersome even though there is need for that. How are we going to finish it? It is not only a distraction but a waste of resources and energy,” he said.
Posted on: Wed, 03 Dec 2014 06:45:51 +0000

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