Impeachment: APC dares Saraki to reconvene Senate

The All Progressives Congress has dared the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, to reconvene the Senate if indeed he was not perturbed about moves to impeach him.

The APC spoke through its acting National Publicity Secretary, Mr Yekini Nabena, said the party’s position was its response to Saraki’s declaration that he was not losing sleep over threats to unseat him following his decision to dump the APC to join the opposition Peoples Democratic Party.

Saraki had told reporters in Asaba the Delta State capital on Saturday that he was not bothered about the APC plot against him.

He told journalists, “You can look at me. I am not losing any sleep about it (impeachment threat). We believe democracy must go by the rule of law.

“There are processes, constitutional processes over what we do. So, I am not concerned about that.

“There are lots of noise being made about that but be sure that once we resume, the processes are followed, we will see that the noise will fizzle out. So I am not concerned about it.”

But the APC speaking through Nabena said, “Like we’ve said it before, he will be removed democratically. Let him reconvene the Senate first since he feels we in the APC don’t have the numbers required to impeach him.

“As far as we are concerned, he will leave that seat for a loyal party member to occupy. It is a question of morality, he has left our party which has the majority of Senators and as a party, we agree with our senators that a member of the minority party cannot rule over the majority.”

Saraki’s spokesman, Yusuph Olaniyonu, had in a telephone interview with our correspondent said due process would be followed to reconvene the Senate.

He said, “The Senate is on recess as you know, when it is time to reconvene, due process will be followed.”

Buhari knows he has failed, says PDP

Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party has said that it has thoroughly reviewed the President Muhammadu Buhari-led All Progressives Congress administration and come to the conclusion that it has failed in every sector.

The PDP said that it noted that available data, both locally and internationally, confirmed that the Buhari administration had failed woefully in all its promises and claims, particularly on the fight against corruption, economy, security, democracy and national unity.

The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan, in a statement in Abuja on Sunday said the PDP observed that the Buhari administration’s claimed fight against corruption had also been exposed to be what he described as a big lie.

He also dismissed the claim as a charade designed to hound perceived political opponents while providing cover for corruption and pillaging of resources by agents of the Presidency.

Instead of fighting corruption, he alleged that “the Buhari administration is practically a felonious empire of corrupt individuals, certificate forgers, contract inflators, looters of treasuries and well-known liars, making it, ‘head to toe’, the biggest assemblage of plunderers in the history of our nation.”

Ologbondiyan added, “We ask if Mr President is indeed a man of integrity as his handlers want the world to believe. Why is he comfortable employing, embracing, surrounding himself with and offering protection to corrupt persons, certificate forgers and liars as ministers, advisers and political associates?

“Are there things Mr President benefits or has in common with such individuals that attract them to him or for which they enjoy his cover to steal public funds in parastatals, agencies and ministries, particularly those under the direct supervision of the President?

“Largely, due to the incompetence and corruption of the Buhari Presidency, our once robust economy has been wrecked, resulting in unbearable hardship, unemployment, hunger and starvation, strange sicknesses and untold depression with compatriots resorting to suicide missions and slavery as options.

He added, “Under President Buhari, our nation has become dangerously divided. Violent clashes and bloodletting has become the order of the day.

“Rights of citizens are daily violated; democratic institutions, including the courts and the National Assembly have come under attack; elections are rigged with impunity; the unity of our beloved country is now under stress.”

He claimed the Buhari administration could not boast of any major development project it had initiated, executed and completed in the last three years, in any part of the country.

Ologbondiyan alleged that the President had been going around the country looking for projects executed by other persons, including PDP governors, to commission.

He challenged the President and the APC to debate on good governance, where he said the PDP would expose the ruling party.

He said, “The PDP is ready to commence a series to expose the lies and failures of this administration as well as the huge liability, woes and dangers it has brought on our nation.

“The PDP also challenges both the Presidency and the APC to an open debate on governance, where we will further expose the failure of the APC and Buhari Presidency to Nigerians. The time has finally come.”

But the APC in its response on Sunday said the PDP was scared of its inevitable descent into oblivion because of what the Buhari-led APC administration had been able to achieve in three years.

This, it argued, was the reason why the PDP was looking for any opportunity to put the administration down.

Acting National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Yekini Nabena, said this in a telephone interview with one of our correspondents in Abuja on Sunday.

He said, “They are scared of the achievements recorded by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC administration which has done in three years what they could not do in 16 years with the little resources available. They will continue their propaganda but Nigerians know better.