Impeachment notices to APC governors: Buhari raises alarm, says democracy is threatened Worried about the growing tension and disquiet in the polity, former Nigerian Head of State, General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), has asked President Goodluck Jonathan to put a check on the onslaught against the opposition in the interest of Nigerias survival and her democracy.
 Buhari, who is one of the national leaders of the main opposition political party in the country, the All Progressives Congress (APC), warned that subverting the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in desperation to impeach a state governor or deploying the institutions of state against political opponents could only breed anarchy and lead the nation to perdition.
 He said the recent protest in Nasarawa is a sign of things to come if the federal authorities continue to target opposition state governors for impeachment. But the presidency, last night told the former Head of State to blame himself for all his woes, stressing that the allegations made against the president are both wild and untrue. In a statement released by the Special Adviser to the president on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, said the president had never supported or preached any act associated with violence. In a statement issued monday, Buhari said the recent induced impeachment or threats of impeachment of governors of opposition states, just to decapitate the opposition, does not augur well for the survival of a fragile nation like Nigeria or the survival of its tenderfoot democracy.
 “Whether or not President Goodluck Jonathan is behind the gale of impeachment or the utilization of desperate tactics to suffocate the opposition and turn Nigeria into a one-party state, what cannot be denied is that they are happening under his watch, and he cannot pretend not to know, since that will be akin to hiding behind one finger,” he said.
 The former Head of State said developments in the polity had become an unwelcome distraction for the nations on-going survival battle against the terror group Boko Haram, which has put Nigeria on the tenterhooks, with innocent citizens being daily mowed down at random while over 200 school girls are still kept for the fourth month in precarious captivity.
 He advised President Jonathan to tarry a while, take a deep breath and ponder the impact of recent events in the polity under his watch, on the survival of the nation and the sustenance of its democracy.
 Buhari, who said he had shared his concerns on the issues with the president, regretted that the private sessions held with the president on the issues have not yielded positive results, suggesting that it is for such reason that the open statement is being issued.
 “In my capacity as an elder statesman, rather than a politician, I have spoken to President Jonathan in private over these issues, but indications are that the strategy has not yielded positive fruits. I cannot, just because I am an opposition politician, fail to do what is expected of me as an elder statesman to help rescue our nation in times of great trouble and palpable uncertainty.
 “History will not be kind to me if I sit back while things turn bad, just so that no one will accuse me of partisanship. Yes, I am a politician. Yes, I am in the opposition. Yes, there is the tendency for my statement to be misconstrued as that of a politician rather than a statesman. But I owe it as a matter of duty and honour, and in the interest of our nation, to speak out on the dangerous trajectory that our nation is heading.
 “I can say, in all sincerity, that I have seen it all, as an ordinary citizen, a military officer, a head of state, a man who has occupied many other sensitive posts and a politician. I have been a close participant and witness to Nigerias political history.
 “Our country has gone through several rough patches, but never before have I seen a Nigerian President declare war on his own country as we are seeing now. Never before have I seen a Nigerian President deploy federal institutions in the service of partisanship as we are witnessing now. Never before have I seen a Nigerian President utilize the common wealth to subvert the system and punish the opposition, all in the name of politics. Our nation has suffered serious consequences in the past for egregious acts that are not even close to what we are seeing now. It is time to pull the brakes,” Buhari warned.
 “The dangerous clouds are beginning to gather and the vultures are circling, and these have manifested in Nasarawa where the ordinary people have defied guns and tanks to protest the plan to impeach Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura in a repeat of the bitter medicine forced down the throat of Governor Murtala Nyako. The peoples protest in Nasarawa is a sign of what is to come if the federal authorities continue to target opposition state governors for impeachment. In the long run, the impeachment weapon will be blunted. Positions will become more hardened on both sides and Nigeria and Nigerians will become the victims of arrested governance and possible anarchy,” he said.
 Buhari said President Jonathan should also remember that no democracy can thrive or survive without a virile opposition, hence it will amount to a man cutting his nose to spite his face for anyone to embark on a journey to decapitate the opposition, as the current central government is doing.
 He said a man of power must realise that he cannot always do things just because he could do them.
 “I, along with many other patriotic Nigerians, fought for the unity and survival of this country. Hundreds of patriotic souls perished in the battle to keep Nigeria one. The blood of many of our compatriots helped to water the birth of the democracy we are all enjoying today.
 “Let no one, whether the leader or the led, the high or the low, a member of the ruling or the opposition do anything to torpedo the system. Let no one, whether on the altar of personal ambition or pretension to higher patriotic tendencies, do anything that can detonate the keg of gunpowder on which the nation is sitting. It is time for all concerned to spare a thought for the ordinary citizens who have yet to see their hopes, dreams and aspirations come to reality, within the general context of nationhood, he said.
Posted on: Tue, 22 Jul 2014 07:02:28 +0000
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