Opposition senators from various political parties have threatened to commence impeachment proceedings against President Muhammadu Buhari if he fails to address the high level of insecurity in the country. The federal lawmakers have subsequently issued a 6-week ultimatum to the President to tackle the security challenges.
The opposition senators had earlier staged a walkout from the senate chamber after the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, refused to follow the resolutions reached by them across party lines at a closed-door session.
The position of the senators was made known by the Senate Minority Leader, Senator Phillip Aduda, on Wednesday while briefing journalists at the National Assembly in Abuja, after a closed-door session.
What the Senate Minority leader is saying
Aduda said, ‘’We are here to tell Nigerians that as senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, we are disappointed with the way the worsening security situation across the country is being handled.
“We held a closed-door session for two hours, where it was resolved that the issue will be deliberated upon in plenary with an agreed resolution to give President Muhamnadu Buhari six weeks to address it or face impeachment by both chambers of the National Assembly.
“Our walking out of the chamber is to express our disappointment in the way the matter was later handled by the Senate President.
“President Buhari has been given all he wanted in terms of adequate funding of the security agencies but nothing to show for it. He needs to shape up or ship out.”
What you should know
- Senator Aduda had raised a point of order asking the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, who presided during plenary, to discuss the security situation in the country and the impeachment of President Buhari.
- However, Senator Lawan declined the request of the minority leader, saying the point of order raised fell flat on its face.
- Angered by the action of the Senate President, all the lawmakers elected on the platforms of all political parties other than the All Progressives Congress (APC) took turns to walk out of the legislative chamber while the plenary was ongoing.
- The country has been faced with serious security challenges, the latest being the attack on a brigade of guards on the outskirts of Abuja, with some casualty figures recorded.
It’s too late me senator you could have taken such decisions long time ago but not now that souls are waisted and his tenior is at hand
The walkout and the protest by some senators is like campaign after election. If they are serious about the issues all of them should resign. They can not fool Nigerians any more.
This is exactly my point too. Too late, the country is already on autopilot for about 2-3 years, but it’s now they are thinking of impeachment…
Too little, too late. This saga appears more like an attempt by the concerned lawmakers to campaign for 2023 elections rather than in the interest of the suffering masses. Yes, I think so because how come these senators who’d been sleeping on duty concerning the current security scourge for over 6 years, suddenly decide to take decisive actions now that the president has less than one year left to stay in office.