Former Minority Leader of the Senate, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe has declared that some lawmakers elected on the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) are ready to join the opposition senators in their move to impeach President Muhammadu Buhari over the persistent spate of killings, kidnappings, jail breaks and other dastardly attacks on citizens of Africa’s most populous country.
According to Abaribe, almost every senator in the red chamber are fed up with the worsening insecurity roiling the country and are ready to ship the current administration out of office.
On Wednesday, opposition lawmakers, including Senators elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), among others staged a walkout of plenary.
Leading the opposition Senators out of plenary, the Minority Leader of the Senate, Senator Phillip Aduda, issued a six-week ultimatum to President Muhammadu Buhari to find lasting solutions to the security challenges roiling most parts of Nigeria, or risk being impeached from office.
Speaking further on the issue, Abaribe who represents Abia South senatorial district under the platform of APGA said the lawmakers are fed up with the insecurity situation and are not ready to sit and watch the country derail.
The Federal lawmaker stated this during an interview with Channels TV, monitored by The New Diplomat.
In his words, “It’s very wrong for anybody to say. You don’t have the numbers. That’s not true. Most of the APC senators are with us. And at the point at which this(impeachment) starts, that is when Nigerians wil know that almost every senator is fed up and can no longer continue to see a situation that looks like what happened in the time of Rome, Nero, fiddling while Rome is burning. This is exactly what is going on today.
“We have been doing almost everything that is necessary, including giving this administration everything that they have asked for. And it is because we’ve given this administration everything they have asked for that the Senate has the tag of a “compliance senate”. There’s no amount of names that we have not been called, everything in an effort not to be seen, for somebody to say that we are impeding anything that this administration wants. But the bottom line today that we have reached is that we’re in a state of sheer incompetence, there’s no order way you can mention it. No other way you can dice and slice it.
“It may start with one person, it may start with two and it becomes something that just rolling and gathering a lot of most. And so we will now see what will happen. What happened today you could see it, I can tell you for free no one has sat and planned that there was going to be a walkout, nobody. People just got exasperated. The reason why they got exasperated was the manner that the matter was being treated by the senate president. Does it mean that you don’t also take these things seriously?”
When asked on the essence of impeaching Buhari who is months away from the end of his tenure, Abaribe said it is necessary to send strong warning to the upcoming president that his job would be on the line if he fails to secure and serve Nigerians.
“Then the person who takes over will know that his job is on the line. Then any other president that comes will also know that his job can also be on the line and you do your work. The reason why you came out and vied for an office as strong as the president is because you told us and you gave us your assurance that you can do the job. If you can’t do the job, like the people say you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen,” he added.
The walkout by the opposition’s Senators, Wednesday, came as the latest in a series of concerns raised by Nigerians and groups amid the worsening insecurity in the country.
The New Diplomat had reported that concerns over insecurity in the country soared on Wednesday as reports emerged that two terrorist groups, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and Boko Haram are scheming to attack Lagos state, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, Kaduna state and some states in the North-West, North-Central and South-West of Nigeria.
It also comes after troops of the 7 Guards Brigade which provide security for the Presidential Villa and the Federal Capital Territory Abuja were ambushed while on patrol along the Kubwa-Bwari Road, with no fewer than three officers killed.
Recently, an advanced convoy of President Muhammadu Buhari was attacked by bandits on their way to Daura in Katsina during the last Sallah celebrations.
This is as terrorists had also broke into the Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja, freeing hundreds of their terrorist-colleagues and other inmates detained there.
