From Fred Itua, Abuja
Senators and members of the House of Representatives elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and other opposition parties, yesterday, said they were taking judicial notice of various constitutional breaches by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The lawmakers said at the right time, every constitutional option would be explored to ensure all the breaches are addressed.
Though they did not explicitly suggest an impeachment move against the president, they, said the Constitution would be followed in applying necessary sanctions. The lawmakers spoke yesterday in Abuja, after an emergency meeting, convened to brainstorm on the security situation. The meeting lasted almost two hours, with prominent senators and members of the House of Representatives in attendance.
They said the president had not been seen or heard by Nigerians on how he intends to tackle the many issues confronting the country and also condemned plans by the Buhari-led government to increase the price of petrol and electricity.
Speaking on behalf of the caucus, Senate Minority Leader, Enyinnaya Abaribe, said the president had been absent from duty despite security challenges affecting every part of the country. The minority caucus of the National Assembly expresses very strong concern about the ineptitude and the inability of the APC-led government to arrest the drift to anarchy of our nation at this time. The caucus has taken note of the fact that the President is absent from duty. We have not seen our president. We have not heard from our president despite the daily killings that have turned Nigeria into a killing field of unimaginable proportions. Therefore, the caucus has taken note and will continue to take note of the constitutional breaches that is happening at this time by the government of the APC and will at the appropriate time utilise all constitutional methods and measures available after consultations with our colleagues to do the needful to safe the country from collapse. We also, as a caucus, want to put on notice to all Nigerians and the international community about the threats to the lives of our members, to those who come out to say things that are true about the state of Nigeria today, and this threats have come in various forms, including threat to life.”
The Abia South senator, said opposition lawmakers were worried that the Buhari-led government was piling up more burdens on Nigerians, with no plans to fix the economy. He said inflation was at its peak, with the naira seriously devalued against major foreign currencies. He ado frowned at the recent claims that the Buhari-led government printed the Naira to augment shortfall in the monthly allocation to federal, states and local councils. The opposition caucus also opposed the continued superintendent of the NIN registration by Dr. Isa Pantami saying the country had lost confidence in the minister.
“We ask the government to go ahead and summon the courage to do the needful that when people lose confidence in a member of this government, that person should either quit or be fired. We should not lose hope in the country, but we should do everything possible to able to get rid of this APC-led government when the time for elections comes.”