The opposition lawmakers in the National Assembly have stated that they will not back down from their decision to impeach President Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) if he fails to address the country’s insecurity within six weeks.
On Sunday, lawmakers denied reports that they had abandoned their plan to depose the President after the six-week deadline passed on July 27.
Terrorists launched separate attacks on troops and the Kuje Medium Security Custodial Centre in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory.
The militant attacked the Presidential Guards Brigade troops on Bwari-Kubwa road in Abuja, killing a captain, lieutenant, and six soldiers while injuring others.
They also attacked a checkpoint near the country’s capital, Zuma Rock.
On July 5, terrorists from the Islamic State West Africa Province attacked the Kuje Medium Security Custodial Centre in Abuja, freeing 69 Boko Haram commanders and hundreds of felons. This occurred just 24 hours after suspected terrorists assaulted the president’s advance team in Katsina.
Following these developments, as well as the opposition lawmakers’ threat to impeach the President, the National Assembly leadership expressed concern about the country’s worsening insecurity.
Following that, Senate President Ahmed Lawan summoned the security chiefs to a marathon meeting, during which he described the security situation as frightening.
Similarly, the various House Security Committees met with the security chiefs on the subject.
Francis Fadahunsi, the People’s Democratic Party Senator representing Osun East senatorial district, stated that the opposition’s move to impeach the President was not true.
According to him, it is a unanimous decision, and nothing else has been communicated to them.
When asked if the senators had changed their minds about impeachment, he replied “Who said so? Who are the opposition (lawmakers) that met? You did an interview with Senator Gershom Bassey who said that we meant what we said. Those people saying such are not feeling fine.
“Even northern senators are in support of the impeachment; you heard Senator Clifford (Ordia) from Edo, Senator Bulkachuwa (Mohammed) and the rest. So, who are those that told them so?’’
The Osun senator hinted that the lawmakers would remove the Senate President from office as part of the anti-Buhari campaign, adding that he was a victim of the country’s grave insecurity.
Fadahunsi insisted that his voice would not be silenced and vowed never to back down.
He also added “Bulkachuwa had earlier moved the motion but the Senate President shot him down because we were not around. Very soon, we will push him out of the place instead of dying one after the other and keeping silent.
“My lawyer was kidnapped twice on Kogi road; his wife was just released from the hospital after she got shot. Before then, I was also attacked twice, so why will I allow anyone to shut me down from expressing my grievances.
“I have not heard such communication that we are backing down on the impeachment move and, I won’t back down.”
Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, who represents Abia South, echoed his colleague and denied that the opposition senators had abandoned their decision to remove Buhari.
Abaribe stated that he was unaware of such a decision because the plenary was adjourned on the same day that the motion to impeach the president was introduced.
He said, “No such thing. We went on break that same day.”
The Senator representing Benue North West Senatorial District, Senator Orker Jev, also dismissed the insinuation that the opposition senators had stepped down the impeachment move.
“I’m not aware of any such development. Most likely untrue,’’ he stated.
The Deputy Minority Leader of the House, Toby Okechukwu, also debunked the report that the impeachment threat had died.
Faulting the media report on the plan, he said, “Who did they quote? They quoted an anonymous source. How can the Senators back down and there is no name (of those interviewed)?”
Senator Abiodun Olujimi of Ekiti South Senatorial District, like her colleagues, said reports that the senators were aborting the impeachment were false.
She stated, “I am not aware of such a decision, it was a settled issue that we have all agreed on the impeachment of the President if the insecurity state of the nation was not addressed.
“We haven’t held any meetings since then; at least to the best of my knowledge. So, things remain as they are.”
Senator Danjuma La’ah of Southern Kaduna and Deputy Minority Whip said the opposition senators had yet to drop the impeachment threat.
When asked if the opposition senators had abandoned the impeachment process against the President, La’ah replied, “No. We are still on the process” adding that the ultimatum still stands.”
In addition, Nicholas Tofowomo, the senator representing Ondo South Senatorial District in Ondo State, stated that he was unaware of the threat’s withdrawal.
The senator also stated that this did not occur, and that if it had, the minority leader would have informed all senators concerned about the situation.
He stated, “ I am not aware of anything of such. Although we are currently on recess, if there is anything of such it is the responsibility of the minority leader to inform all the opposition senators before any decision would be taken in that regard.”
“The minority leader should have called a meeting where everybody would agree before the decision would be taken but if it truly happened I wasn’t informed.”
However, Senate spokesperson Ajibola Bashiru stated that the Senate was unaware of any impeachment threat because no official correspondence had been provided.
Bashiru said a media walkout by the senators did not constitute an impeachment move.
He noted, “If you want to talk about an impeachment, there must be an impeachment notice. Was there any impeachment notice? A media walkout is different from serving an impeachment notice.
“So, I am not aware of any impeachment talks in the first place, I can only talk of the procedure before the National Assembly, not politics. And as far as I know, there is none before the National Assembly.”
Meanwhile, a prominent member of the National Assembly’s minority caucus said the opposition lawmakers were watching the executive branch’s moves as well as the meeting between Senate leadership and security chiefs.
The ranking lawmaker, who declined to be quoted, did not say whether the caucus’s six-week deadline would be lifted.
According to the opposition leader, “If they address the issues, good for Nigerians. That is what we want. We want the issues addressed. They have started; let us wait and see. It is too early to ask questions about what they are doing.
“Whether the ultimatum stands or not; the most important thing is that we have asked that action be taken. Are the actions being taken or not? That is the question.”
Last week, Kalu dismissed the ongoing effort by opposition members of the National Assembly to impeach Buhari over the country’s growing insecurity and failing economy as belated.
According to a spokesman for the House, the regime would have ended by the time the process was completed.
He pointed out that Section 143 of the 1999 Constitution establishes different timeframes for each of the processes.
In a related development, the Senate and House of Representatives Army Committees have stated that the Armed Forces, particularly the Nigerian Army, will be unable to address the country’s security challenges until the Nigeria Police Force and other security agencies increase their capacities.
Despite the country’s worsening insecurity, security agencies, according to committee leaders, are still underfunded.
Senator Ali Ndume, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Army, told our correspondent that those criticising the massive security expenditures were wrong, arguing that no amount was too large to protect Nigerians’ lives and property.
Ndume stated, “The problem is that the military is not well equipped. The equipment is just coming now in bits. I am not aware that they have received the attack helicopters ordered. The problem is that the money is either not released to them (Armed Forces) or the money is too small.
“Their capital budget is N130bn despite the fact that we have security challenges everywhere. They need more funding. They need more soldiers on the ground. We don’t only need soldiers because it is not only soldiers that will do the work, we need more soldiers; we need more policemen. In fact, most of this work is supposed to be for the police.
“Why will Nigeria be taken seriously when we have over 200 million Nigerians and you have less than one million personnel in the Nigerian Army, Nigeria Police Force and all the security forces combined? Are we serious about addressing our security challenges?
“Even if we didn’t have all these problems, a country of 200 million citizens like ours should at least have a minimum of one million soldiers, at least one million policemen and a good number of officers in the Department of State Services and other security agencies.”
The Borno senator reacted to the delayed payment of troops on the battlefields, saying, “I read yesterday that they were complaining about their money. While people are saying they (Armed Forces) are spending so much and soldiers are saying they have not been paid salaries, can’t you add it up?
“Why this is happening is because whoever is there in the military or the people that are in charge, are not prioritising security. If not, how come up to the 3rd of August, their salaries had not been paid? And you know why? It is because the military did not give them the money on time.”
Abdulrazak Namdas, Chairman of the House Committee on Army, also stated that the Armed Forces have been receiving arms and ammunition purchased with the $1 billion withdrawn from the Excess Crude Account in batches.
Namdas, on the other hand, complained that the military was being chastised for not doing the job that the Nigeria Police Force and other security agencies were supposed to do.
He stated, “What I know is that in terms of funding, even a supplementary budget was passed and in the budget, a lot of equipment for the Nigerian Army that I oversight was procured.
“They take delivery of this equipment piecemeal because they are not things that one can buy over the shelf. But I know that a substantial amount of the equipment was actually brought into the country and they (Nigerian Army) have started using them.’’
When asked if there were comparable results, the lawmaker stated that other security agencies, particularly the Nigeria Police Force, which was tasked with handling the country’s internal security, should be kept on their toes.
In his submission, Babajimi Benson, Chairman of the House Committee on Defence, emphasised the need for Nigeria to engage mercenaries, whom he referred to as military contractors, while the security architecture is restructured.
“My opinion as Chairman of the House Committee on Defence, I will always say we should seek assistance. This assistance will also come with hardware and software.
“The contractor will come with their equipment – night goggles and military infrastructure that can aid night operations. They already have these. These will take us a bit of time to put together but these guys already have it at the tip of their fingers”, Benson said.
Adejoro Adeogun, Deputy Chairman of the House Committee on National Security and Intelligence, also emphasised the importance of intelligence and collaboration among security agencies.
Adeogun continued, “I do not think that kind of synergy exists within what we call the action agencies and the intelligence generators. They don’t have that synergy that ensures that the action agencies actually give feedback to the generators.”
