We want jonathan impeach now AP said so as NUPENG is caling for immidiate arrest of Commissioner of police in River state : ACN, AP blame Presidency, task PSC on probe • NUPENG seeks removal, prosecution of CP • Speakers condemn bid to impeach colleague • ACF warns of danger to democracy • PDP accuses ACN of plotting to destabilise system STILL outraged at the crisis that is rocking the Rivers State House of Assembly which resulted in fisticuffs last week, various stakeholders have proposed measures to restore peace to the legislative chamber. Reacting to the crisis in which five of the 32-member House of Assembly attempted the impeachment of the Speaker, Otelemeba Dan Amachree, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the Accord Party (AP) yesterday blamed the Presidency for the development. The ACN called on the Police Service Commission (PSC) to address the causes rather than the symptoms of the crisis in the state in its ongoing investigation into the role of the police in the House of Assembly fight last week. But, the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the ACN of plotting to destabilise the system on account of its renewed call for the impeachment of President Goodluck Jonathan over the recent crisis in Rivers State House of Assembly. PDP Acting National Publicity Secretary, Tony Caesar Okeke, in a statement issued in Abuja said such call was an indication that the opposition party indeed lacked direction and only sought to destabilize the polity. In a statement Sunday in Lagos by its National Publicity Secretary, Lai Mohammed, the party said the statement credited to the PSC Chairman, Mike Okiro, suggested that his agency was only interested in the role of the police in last week’s clashes rather than how the police hierarchy in the state wantonly allowed them simply because it “was acting to protect certain interests at the expense of public interest.” The party insisted, in line with its earlier statement, that President Goodluck Jonathan could not be absolved of blame over the crisis, much as his aides and party have struggled to distance him from it. AP, through its National Secretary, Samson Isibor, has called on the National Assembly to commence impeachment moves against President Jonathan, alleging that he was intolerant of opposition , a development which spells danger for the nation’s growing democracy. Isibor, who spoke in Benin, asked all lovers of democracy to rise against “arm-twisting by the Presidency to secure second term ticket,” and further alleged that the crisis in Rivers was an offshoot of the controversial Governors’ Forum (NGF) election. Reacting on the issue Sunday, the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) called for the arrest, removal and prosecution of the state’s Commissioner of Police, Joseph Mbu Joseph, over his alleged poor handling of the security situation in the state. According to a statement from NUPENG President, Igwe Achese, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Abubakar, should be held responsible for his “failure to address the issue of loss of lives and damage to property in Rivers State,” because the police in the state under Mbu “have failed in their primary duty to protect lives and property and it is rather unfortunate.” Describing the incident at the House of Assembly as unfortunate, NUPENG called on the Federal Government to quickly intervene and allow justice, equity and fair-play to prevail, and vowed to take necessary steps to protect its members and all Nigerians in the state, “as the security of lives and property can no longer be guaranteed by the police.” Also, leaders of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) warned at the weekend that the situation portends great danger to the nation’s democracy if allowed to persist. ACF National Publicity Secretary, Anthony Sani, blamed Jonathan for watching the ugly event degenerate, stating that as leader of the PDP and the country’s President, it behooves him to intervene and end the political crisis. Sani, who described the crisis as a national problem, said the unfortunate political logjam started with the governors’ forum election, which Governor Rotimi Amaechi was said to have won, and later extended to the House of Assembly, where five legislators purportedly impeached the Speaker. The ACF chieftain said: “I don’t want to know if Jonathan is responsible for the crisis in Rivers State or not, but what we should understand is that he is the one that gives direction to all issues in the country. If the President presides over a divided people of this country, then there is no hope.” According to him, irrespective of those instigating the crisis, the National Assembly has decided to live up to its responsibility to put an end to the issue to prevent damage to the nation’s democratic practice. And rising in defence of constitutional provisions for the impeachment of elected office holders in the country, the Conference of Speakers of State Legislators has condemned the alleged removal of Amachree as Speaker of the Rivers House of Assembly, stating that it was unconstitutional and an enormous threat to the country’s nascent democracy. In an interview with reporters at the weekend, Chairman of the Conference and Speaker of Gombe House of Assembly, Inuwa Garba, said the action of the five legislators contravened Section 92 (2) c of the 1999 Constitution as amended. He noted that Assembly speakers could only be removed from office by two-thirds votes of the entire members, and not five out of 32 as in the case of the Rivers House. Garba further called on the National Assembly to reinstate Amachree and save the country’s democracy from derailment, adding that the National Assembly should immediately commence constitutional process against the five legislators to deter others who may be nursing the same ambition. He equally enjoined the police in Rivers State to provide adequate security at the House to ensure smooth legislative activities. In Benin City yesterday, the African Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ) alleged that the Presidency, despite denials, should be held responsible for the crisis in Rivers State. Its Executive Director, Rev David Ugolor, called on Nigerians not to keep mum on the crisis, saying it has a lot to do with who becomes President in 2015. He likened the situation to the political crises that rocked Plateau, Ekiti and Anambra states, which snowballed into the impeachment of the then state governors. Already, a non-governmental organisation, Global Alliance for the Defence of Democracy and Rule of Law, has petitioned Senate President David Mark to urgently intervene in the crisis in order to save democracy. In an open letter to the National Assembly by its national co-ordinator, Chief Titus Adewumi, the group said it made an independent investigation into the Rivers’ crisis and “faulted President Jonathan for cowardly declaring an unannounced unilateral, unconstitutional state of emergency in the state.” Besides, the Taraba State chapter of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) has tasked public office holders in the country to hold tenaciously to the rule of law, describing as shameful the crisis in Rivers House. In its statement during its congress Sunday in Jalingo, the union urged the IGP to urgently remove the state commissioner of police. In the statement by Solomon Adjiduku and Charles Akpeji, the NUJ also condemned the Federal Government’s continued refusal to honour its pact with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), thereby causing incessant strikes. On his part, the Founder of Oodua People’s Congress (OPC), Frederick Fasehun, has asked militants in the Niger Delta region, as well as security agencies, to steer clear of the political crisis in Rivers State and allow politicians to solve their own problems. In a statement issued in Lagos at the weekend, Fasehun also endorsed the resolution of the House of Representatives to take over the legislative functions of the Rivers Assembly. However, he insisted that Governor Amaechi must accord due honour to President Jonathan despite their personal differences, noting: “What you sow you reap. Sow respect and you reap respect; sow dishonour and you reap dishonour. Not only the Holy Books, even good home training teaches this and the governor ought to know.” He described the move by the Federal House to take over the functions of the Rivers Assembly as “a creative initiative that would guarantee that the state legislature was not hijacked by either opponents or proponents of the embattled Governor Rotimi Amaechi.”
Posted on: Sun, 14 Jul 2013 23:03:44 +0000
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