Twenty four hours after federal lawmakers on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) threatened to take up President Muhammadu Buhari over alleged breaches of the Constitution, their counterparts in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) Wednesday declared the planned action dead on arrival.
Minority’s stand
At a joint press conference Tuesday, Minority Caucus of both Chambers of the National Assembly under the leadership of the Senate Minority Leader, Enyinnaya Abaribe (PDP Abia South), threatened to compile alleged breaches of the Constitution by President Buhari and invoke the relevant provisions of the 1999 Constitution against him in collaboration with other federal lawmakers.
At the briefing, the minority lawmakers alleged President Buhari was not seen in any way to be addressing the worsening state of insecurity in the land and must either shape up or ship out.
“The caucus has also 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 breaches of constitution that is happening at this time by the government of the APC and will at the appropriate time utilize all constitutional methods and measures available after consultations with our colleagues to do the needful to safe the country from collapse,” they said.
APC Caucus kicks
But the APC Caucus, led by Senate Leader Yahaya Abubakar Abdullahi (Kebbi North), dissociated itself from the threat, declaring it won’t work.
Addressing journalists in Abuja, the majority lawmakers accused their PDP counterparts of playing politics with Nigerian lives, since challenges of insecurity bedevilling the country have no political affiliation or identity.
They said the PDP-led federal government in the country between 1999 and 2015 , “laid the foundation for the problems of insecurity Nigeria is currently facing by not putting in place , required infrastructure across the various sectors, particularly the Military and other security agencies.”
“We reject and dissociate ourselves from all and any inflammatory statements that appear to threaten the authority of Mr. President and our party.
“We accordingly, wish to remind them that blame game and threats of “constitutional measures” are unwelcome and will not help in any form to address the challenges the nation currently faces,” the Caucus declared.
Their statement reads in part: ” We in the APC Caucus totally reject the many incorrect statement contained in the said press release. Indeed, we are quite aware of the role of the opposition in any democracy.
“However, the statement by the PDP Caucus has gone too far given the good working relationship in the 9th Assembly and especially with the Minority Caucus.
“In any democracy, the rights to present criticisms and concerns on the state of the nation’s affairs are unassailable.
“However, while we respect such rights; which come with obligation and responsibility, we are concerned that the statement issued by the Minority Cuscus is capable of over- heating an already charged polity in which men of good conscience and patriotism are expected to act as leaders and Statesmen.
“Furthermore, we take exception to the unfortunate charge that our President has not been seen. This is false and cheap politics.
“Mr. President and service chiefs are meticulously busy every day and every night in deliberations with a view to addressing the security challenges across the entire country.
“Similarly, Mr. President had always made statement to Nigerians on all major security incidences and assuring Nigerians and indeed the international community that he would continue to do his best in making sure that the security challenges are tackled head-on.
“We want to assure Nigerians that Mr. President is in charge of government and is discharging his duties conscientiously and patriotically.
“It is a well-known fact that the Federal Government under the PDP refused to invest in the security infrastructure of the country while Mr. President under the APC led Government had massively invested in this regard more than any past governments and we are confident that the nation will surmount its current security challenges.”
