While condemnations rage over the lingering state of insecurity across the country, with last week’s massacre involving scores of innocent rice farmers in Zambarmari area of Borno state, the opposition Peoples Democratic (PDP) caucus in the House of Representatives added its voice, demanding that President Muhammadu Buhari be impeached. JOSHUA EGBODO writes on the considered failures of the president in the eyes of the group.
Lingering insecurity
Nigeria’s security system has been under challenge over the years, more with the advent of the Boko Haram insurgency. Statistics have revealed that tens of thousands of innocent citizens have died in the hands of the militia group, which came with the campaign against western education, which in its philosophy was a forbidden venture.
Added to the already bad situation was the intensification of herdsmen clashes with host community farmers over attempted justifications that could be as flimsy as the killing of a cow, sometimes in more numbers that analysts have consistently argued that in no measure should such be equated to a human life.
Worrisome today is popular lexicon in the nation’s security cycle; from the dreaded Boko Haram insurgency, Nigeria now has unknown gunmen, kidnappers, bandits and popularization of cultism. Citizens are gradually losing faith in the governance system, for each time lives were lost to any of their tormentors under any of the names, the story has remained simple condemnation, promises of fishing out the perpetrators, and then going to sleep until another sad incident occurs.
Reps’ earlier revolt on the Zambarmari massacre
Last Tuesday, the House of Representatives was in a rowdy mood with high emotions over the Zambarmari killing of scores of rice farmers by suspected Boko Haram insurgents, when demands were made that President Muhammadu Buhari be invited to appear, and brief members on the lingering state of insecurity. Members were on opposing sides over the suggestion.
A motion was introduced on the floor under matters of urgent public importance by Hon. Ahmed Satomi on behalf of nine other of his colleagues from Borno state, on the need to condemn and investigate the insane killing of unarmed farmers in the said area. Drama, however, started when one of the co-sponsors, Hon. Usman Jaha raised a point of order under matters of privileges, drawing Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila’s attention to the fact that one of the key prayers of the motion was not read out while it was being presented by Satomi.
“We, all the members from Borno state, sat together and agreed that all the prayers of the motion must remain as they are. We all agreed that Mr. President should be invited to come and explain the security situation in the country, especially the North East”, the lawmaker insisted.
The House was to later adopt the controversial prayer, after a closed door session called by the Speaker. Spokesman of the House later defended the action of the House, by first telling newsmen that the House was in high hopes that Buahri will honour the invitation, explaining that such summons in the past were ignored by the President because the leadership of the parliament then was at war with him, which was not the case with the current assembly. The decision of the president to honour the invitation was revealed in another 48 hours, during which the spokesman explained that there was no intent to ridicule the president.
PDP Reps insists on impeachment
A new twist was, however, added to the revolt when over the weekend, the caucus of the leading opposition political party in the House, PDP through its leader, Hon. Kingsley Chinda issued a statement calling on constituents to compel their representatives in the National Assembly, to commence impeachment proceedings against the president.
Buhari’s sins in the eyes of the PDP Caucus
One of the issues raised against Buhari by the group was “gross incompetence and persistent and continuous breach of section 14(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). The said section in part provided that “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government; …”
The caucus also asked that members of the Federal Executive Council should invoke the provisions of section 144 (1) of the Constitution by declaring that the President is incapable of discharging the functions of the office of President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. “The President or Vice-President shall cease to hold office, if- by a resolution passed by two-thirds majority of all the members of the executive council of the federation, it is declared that the President or Vice-President is incapable of discharging the functions of his office”, the section also reads.
According to the group’s leader, “it was disheartening to the PDP caucus that the president has failed to lead Nigerians from the front as he promised. Nigerians are daily and defencelessly killed by terrorists and bandits, while the economy is being freely bled by public officers, describing the current state of the nation as “highlighting a certain crassness and lame duck attitude that has for the past five years come to define the Buhari presidency”.
He said the body language of the government is worrisome as it emboldens terrorists in the country, the greater worries for the country however, is “the do-nothing posturing and the effeminate reactions of the presidency and the military that follow the dastardly attacks.
“The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) c
aucus in the House of Representatives have observed with deep pain the dastardly attacks on poor farmers which have continued unabated across the vast swathes of northern Nigeria, which act came to a sad climax over the weekend in Zabarmari, near Maiduguri, north east Nigeria.
“The attacks continue to take a consistent pattern – a pattern that results in mass deaths and emboldens the insurgents to embark on more spectacular attacks that provide them national and global attention. While the emboldening of terrorists remain sources of worry, the greater worries for us is the do-nothing posturing and the effeminate reactions of the presidency and the military that follow the dastardly attacks.
“The reactions of the presidency and the military highlight a certain crassness and lame duck attitude that has for the past five years come to define the Buhari presidency.”
“Northern Nigeria has long become the vortex of massacres. From Buni Yadi, Gamboru, Baga, Gwoza, Shiroro, Konduga, Kawuri, Southern Kaduna to Benue and certainly everywhere else in Nigeria, lives are being snatched by insurgents, bandits and kidnappers who have no respect for the sanctity of life.
“While President Buhari idles in the typical fashion of Emperor Nero as our country burns, questions must be asked about his capacity to lead at a time that our country desires robust and responsible leadership that can pull it from the brink and rescue it from the debilitions of insurgents, terrorists, bandits and kidnappers.”
“President Buhari is unwilling, (as it consistently appears,) to provide leadership to our fast collapsing country. Rather than take the proverbial bull by the horn, President Buhari ensconces himself in Aso Rock, typical of a Mourner-in-Chief, and issues press statements that make no meaning to a grieving nation”.
“A true leader who is worth every ounce of respect leads from the front as you assured Nigerians that you will do; a true leader doesn’t hide away from those he leads and pretends to mourn with the circus, whilst in fact, he lacks empathy and compassion”, the Caucus posited.
Caucus vs the House
Though it is typical of the opposition to keep voicing such dissents where the government appeared not to be doing the right thing, the outburst, with the perceived extreme position that the president be impeached was at variance with what spokesman of the House, Hon. Benjamin Kalu told journalists last Thursday. He said the entire House has expressed happiness that President Buhari has accepted to honour its invitation, noting that his appearance could be any day this week. He assumed that after the expected engagement, a lot would change in the nation’s security architecture.
If that was truly the case, why the call for another approach to solving the same problem by the opposition. Would Nigerians heed the PDP Caucus’ call that the president be impeached? In the opinion of analysts, it is very doubtful, because of the cumbersomeness of achieving such in the polity, but they believed actions were needed to reverse the current trend of insecurity, and as soon as possible too.
