NASS Moves To Impeach Buhari …Lists Eight -Point Demands …Says President Responsible For Appointees’ Actions …Our Democracy ’ll Die If… -Ekwerenmadu

A member of the House of Representatives, Muhammadu Gudaji Kazaure, has raised an alarm over what he said is a plot to impeach President Muhammadu Buhari.
Kazaure, who addressed the House Press Corps immediately after the 3-hour long joint closed door session of the Senate and the House, said some lawmakers have been mandated to collect signatures to impeach President Buhari.
Kazuare, adjudged one of the closest allies of the President in the House, said” I do not support this move because the man Buhari is a very good man. Kazuare however expressed confidence that those behind the impeachment move will not be able to reach the constitutionally required two-third majority.
Kazaure also disclosed that he was opposed to what he said is a threat to impeach the President if he fails to implement the resolutions reached at the joint executive session.
According to him, the resolution to use legislative instruments should the President fail to take action on the resolutions reached by lawmakers is a veiled impeachment threat. “I tried to raise an amendment, but they didn’t allow me to do so. This is because, we had a resolution that, all what we did…that if the Federal Government doesn’t meet our demands, that we will take any legislative action against the executive.
“I am not in support of this and many of us (lawmakers) are not in support of this. Many of us are not in support of threatening the president because we know he is a man of integrity,” he said.
“The issue of people collecting signatures to serve a notice of impeachment to the president….we know this is happening in the House. “But we know nobody can afford to show us the list of people who want to impeach the president.
“I tell you nobody can present this list because they cannot get two-third majority. “Those of us who support the president in the Senate and the House have the numbers. We are strong enough to stop anything called impeachment,” Kazaure added.
On other resolutions, the lawmaker said he is in support, particularly, to the one that demands that security chiefs should be fired.
Meanwhile, the National Assembly (NASS) has tabled a list of demands before the Muhammadu Buhari administration, asking it to implement them, lest they invoke “the Constitutional Powers of the Parliament”.
The demands were listed as part of the outcome of an emergency executive joint session of both chambers of the National Assembly yesterday.
The meeting passed a vote of confidence on Senator Bukola Saraki, the Senate President, now the subject of police investigation over the April 5, robbery in Offa, Kwara State.
In contrast, the National Assembly members passed a vote of no-confidence on the Inspector General of police, who they want the president to remove because of what they considered to be his “outright disregard for constitutional authority of both the executive and the legislature”.
Reading the resolutions after the session, of the Senate and Chairman of the National Assembly, Bukola Saraki said reminded the Presidency that the protection of lives and properties of Nigerians across the country is the responsibility of government and as such demanded that they security Agencies be given marching orders to curtail the sustained killings of Nigerians across the country.
The lawmakers who met for over three hours in closed door, did not spell out what the “constitutional powers of the Parliament”, is but legal pundits said the only power they have is to set in motion an impeachment proceedings against the President.
Among the list of demands, the legislators want the Buhari administration to address the current security situation in the country.
They frowned at the constant harassment of legislators and other political actors, especially those who seem to hold a contrary view from the executive or those who are critical of the executive arm.
The legislative arm called on the executive to show sincerity in the fight against corruption, adhere to the rule of law and refrain from the “intimidation of Nigerians”.
They threatened that they may be forced to invoke their constitutional powers if the conditions were not met.
Below is the detail of the conditions from the Joint Session of the National Assembly:
The Security Agencies must be given marching orders to contain all the sustained killings of Nigerians and protect the lives and properties of Nigerians — as this is the primary duty for any responsible government.
The systemic harassment by the executive of perceived political opponents — people with contrary opinions in the legislature and the judiciary — by the police and other security agencies must stop.
There must be strict adherence to the rule of law and protection for all citizens by the President and all his appointees.
The President must be held accountable for the actions of his appointees and must be ready to sanction, those that carry out any act,that will ridicule or endanger the country and our democracy.
The government should show sincerity in the fight against corruption by not being selective and also prosecute current appointees that have cases pending against them.
The sanctity of the National Assembly should be protected and preserved by the federal government… and prosecute those who invaded the Senate to seize the mace.
Democratic elections must be competitive and inclusive by removing the current reign of fear and intimidation — particularly as we approach the forthcoming 2019 elections.
The National Assembly will liaise with the international community through the IPU, the APU, ECOWAS Parliament, Pan-African Parliament, EU, US Congress and the United Nations to secure our democracy.
“The National Assembly will also engage with civil society organisations, trade unions and NGOs to further deepen and protect our democracy. The President must take immediate steps to curtail the growing level of poverty and unemployment in Nigeria — especially now that we have an advantage of high oil prices.
“Both chambers of the National Assembly hereby pass a vote of confidence on the Senate President, the Speaker and the entire leadership of the National Assembly”.
We also hereby reaffirm our earlier resolution on the vote of no confidence on the Inspector General of Police, who does nothing but preside over innocent Nigerians with an outright disregard for constitutional authority of both the executive and the legislature.
“The National Assembly will not hesitate to invoke its constitutional powers if nothing is done to address the above resolutions passed today”.
Similarly, the National Assembly has said that the President must be held accountable for the actions of his appointees.
It also accused the Executive of “systematic harassment and humiliation” “of perceived political opponents,” urging it to stop.
These were part of the five-point resolutions made at the Joint Executive Session held yesterday.
A tweet posted on the verified Twitter handle of The Senate President, @SPNigeria, and containing the resolutions also stated that the lawmakers resolved that security agencies must be given “marching orders” to curtail the sustained killings of Nigerians across the country and protect lives and properties of Nigerians, saying “this is the primary duty of any responsible government.”
Other decisions reached at the joint session were revealed as follows:
“The systematic harassment and humiliation by the Executive of perceived political opponents, people with contrary opinion, including legislators and judiciary, by the Police and other security agencies must stop.
“There must be strict adherence to the Rule of Law and protection for all citizens by the President and his appointees.
“The President must be held accountable for the actions of his appointees and must be ready to sanction those that carry out any act which will ridicule or endanger our country and democracy.
“The government should show sincerity in the fight against corruption by not being selective, also prosecute current appointees that have cases pending against them.”
However, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said the resolution of the joint session of the National Assembly against President Muhammadu Buhari’s Presidency was a vindication of its stance on the administration.
A statement issued by PDP National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, in Abuja yesterday commended the members of the National Assembly for their ”patriotism and courage in unanimously standing up for democracy, the rule of law, national stability and cohesion at this trying time.”
It added: “Nigerians would recall that the PDP had consistently pointed to the misrule of the Buhari presidency, as well as the unrelenting violations of our constitution, unprecedented executive highhandedness, abuse of the rights of citizens and the erosion of all known democratic norms under this administration.
“These are in addition to the foisting of siege mentality on Nigerians as well as presidential aloofness to important issues of state thereby resulting in the escalation violence, killings and daily bloodlettings in our country.
“From the above, it has become evident that Mr. President must be called to order through an appropriate legislative instrument.”
The PDP, therefore, called on all democrats, across board, irrespective of party affiliations, to come together, support the National Assembly and “save our democracy from the misrule of the Buhari presidency.”
In another development,the Deputy President of the Senate, Chief Ike Ekweremadu, yesterday, said the country’s democracy would die if the National Assembly was turned to rubber stamp.
The deputy president of the Senate also noted that he was perturbed that the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), has remained silent in the face of what he termed clear acts of aggression against the legislature and the judiciary in recent years.
He said the current state of the nation’s democracy would make heroes of the struggle like Chief Gani Fawehinmi, Chief MKO Abiola, Chuma Ubani, Bamidele Aturu, and Kudirat Abiola sad in their graves.
Ekweremadu, who spoke at the 2018 Law Week of the NBA held in Abuja, maintained that the democracy in Nigeria would die a slow and painful death if the independence of the judiciary is destroyed or the National Assembly is turned to a rubber stamp.
According to him, “Our society is in despair today; democracy is receding; rule of law appears to be at the crossroads; and the killings across the land have become so massive, frequent, and mindless. Politicians that were once friends have turned our politics into a war of attrition.
“Our elections, in many instances, have been highly militarised, with some security officers accused of physically assaulting the staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Nigerians have watched on live television, the raid of the hallowed chamber of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the carting away of its mace by thugs.
“As if emboldened by that, political thugs stormed the premises of the Rivers State High Court. The nation watched with great concern the heavy and prolonged gunfire by armed thugs, who, but for the resistance put up by the people of Rivers State, had virtually succeeded in preventing the court from carrying out its legitimate duties. Today, to hold a different political opinion appears tantamount to a political suicide.”
While urging the NBA to be more proactive, Ekweremandu said, “the Bar has not uttered any word of condemnation of these and other clear acts of aggression against the legislature or the judiciary in recent years.
“We must bear in mind that democracy does not die in a day. Democracy dies a slow and painful death. Democracy will die if the independence of the judiciary is destroyed, the National Assembly turned to a rubber stamp, the media gagged, the civil society organisations sucked-in, and the electoral umpire annexed.
“But it is not in anybody’s interest, let alone the Bar, for our democracy to fail. However, we cannot fold our hands, keep sealed lips, and expect heavens to play our parts as lawyers. So, the Bar must rise in defense of democracy.
“There is no sitting on the fence. The poet, Dante Algheri, warns that the hottest parts of hell are reserved for those, who in the time of moral crisis preserved their neutrality. The Bar must speak up against impunity.
“The Bar must be heard loud and clear in condemnation of desecration and intimidation, and annexation of key institutions of democracy.
“The Bar must stand up in defense of the rule of law, separation of power, rights, liberties, and other laudable tenets without which democracy becomes an empty barrel, a civilianised dictatorship, and, above all, the Bar must continue to promote justice, equity and fairness to sustain our democracy.”

Nneka Amaechi-Nnadi