The National Assembly on Tuesday, threatened to impeach President Muhammadu Buhari if the Presidency fails to implement its resolutions seeking an end to the killings in parts of the country, continued harassment of political opponents, adhere to the rule of law and end the high unemployment rate as well as the growing poverty level in the country.
The impeachment threat was the major highlight of the 12-point resolution passed by the joint executive session of the National Assembly that lasted for over three and a half hours.
Reeling out a litany of critical issues the president must address before any truce can be reached and which Buhari must comply with as contained in the resolution passed, the National Assembly warned that “if nothing is done, the National Assembly will not hesitate to invoke its powers on the executive”.
Apart from passing a vote of confidence on Senate President Bukola Saraki and Speaker Yakubu Dogara, the joint session demanded for Buhari to give marching orders to the various security agencies to curtail the killings across the country and protect lives of innocent Nigerians.
Also, the lawmakers condemned the harassment and humiliation by the executive of perceived political opponents by the police and demanded an end to the ugly trend, insisting that the executive must ensure a strict adherence to the rule of law in its actions.
According to the National Assembly, Buhari must be held accountable for the actions of his political appointees while admonishing the administration to show sincerity in its avowed fight against corruption.
The Buhari administration, the resolution declared must do more to tackle the growing state of unemployment in the country.
Passing a no confidence vote on the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, the joint session of the National Assembly said that the administration must respect and protect the sanctity of the legislature and therefore, pursue and punish those who invaded the National Assembly and hijacked the mace of the Senate.
It added that the National Assembly will liase with the ECOWAS Parliament, European Union, United Nations, civil society organizations to save the country’s democracy .
Addressing House correspondents after the joint session, an ally of Buhari, Rep. Mohammed Gudaji Kazaure from Jigawa state, said that he was opposed to the impeachment threat issued to the president.
He said that he however, supports the other resolutions passed by the National Assembly, including ending the spate of killings in parts of the country, addressing rising hunger and poverty so that Nigerians can feel the change promised them ahead of the 2019 polls.
Rep. Kazaure stated that he backs the no confidence vote passed on the police chiefs, just as he accused some appointees of the president of fueling the feud between the executive and the legislature.
“Many of us are not in support of the threat to Buhari because he’s a man of integrity. The people surrounding Buhari and some of his aides are the ones causing problems for him.
“Therefore, l challenge him to sack those aides because l want cordial relations between all the arms of government because if Buhari succeeds, we all succeed.
“We must provide succor to Nigerians ahead of the 2019 general elections because hunger and poverty is widespread in the country, and so that people can feel the real change we (APC) promised.
“”But, nobody can impeach the president because if they try it, that day will be a war day”, he said.