…As 12 Senators Set to Defect from the Ruling APC

Nigeria’s political water is troubled and the polity is heating up with members of the opposition political parties in the National Assembly giving the President Buhari a six-week ultimatum to address the issue of insecurity in the country or be ready to be jolted with a notice of impeachment from office.

It all started at the red chambers inhabited by 109 Senators where the opposition Senators from various political parties broke ranks with their colleagues and threatened to commence impeachment proceedings against President Muhammadu Buhari if he failed to address the high level of insecurity in the country.

Worried by the state of insecurity in the country that has crept into the federal capital territory where terrorists have engaged and killed soldiers in recent time, the opposition Sled by Senator Phillip Aduda, a member of the PDP and the Minority Leader in the Senate who through a point of order attempted to get every Senator involved but was overruled by the Senate President on technical grounds.

This led opposition Senators to stage a walkout from the Senate chamber after the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, refused to accede to their position during their closed-door session.
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Briefing journalists after their walk-out, Senate Minority Leader, Senator Phillip Aduda ’We are here to tell Nigerians that as senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, we are disappointed with the way the worsening security situation across the country is being handled.

“We held a closed-door session for two hours, where it was resolved that the issue will be deliberated upon in plenary with an agreed resolution to give President Muhamnadu Buhari six weeks to address it or face impeachment by both chambers of the National Assembly.

“Our walking out of the chamber is to express our disappointment in the way the matter was later handled by the Senate President.

“President Buhari has been given all he wanted in terms of adequate funding of the security agencies but nothing to show for it. He needs to shape up or ship out.”

Senator Aduda had raised a point of order asking the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, who presided during plenary, to discuss the security situation in the country and the impeachment of President Buhari.

However, Senator Lawan declined the request of the minority leader, saying the point of order raised fell flat on its face. Angered by the action of the Senate President, all the lawmakers elected on the platforms of all political parties other than the All Progressives Congress (APC) took turns to walk out of the legislative chamber while the plenary was ongoing.

The country has been faced with serious security challenges, the latest being the attack on a brigade of guards on the outskirts of Abuja, with some casualty figures recorded.

The minority caucus of the House of Representatives by the next day joined its Senate counterpart to hand President Muhammadu Buhari a six-week ultimatum to fix insecurity or face impeachment in the National Assembly.

Speaking after a closed door meeting of its members, the Minority leader of the House of Reps, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu,said signatures will be gathered to impeach the President if the security situation is not addressed.He also drew attention to the general state of the nation, including the exchange rate and aviation crisis.

On the surface, the die is cast but the process of impeachment is not tea party. The question many people are asking is: Will the National Assembly have the courage to carry out its threat after six weeks?

Senate President Sits Over 12 Senators’ Defection Letters

The Senate President, Senator Ahmad Lawan, is believed to be sitting over the defection letters of about 12 All Progressives Congress Senators in order to block any impeachment threat against his presidency.

Already the numerical strength of the APC in the Red Chamber has reduced from 64 to 62 in the upper chamber. But, for the Peoples Democratic Party, the numerical strength has risen from 39 to 41, while the New Nigeria Peoples Party has two, with Young Progressives Party and All Progressives Grand Alliance having one each.

If the defection letters of the APC 12 Senators are read on the floor, the numerical strength of the ruling party will be reduced to 50 senators, which will eventually threaten Lawan’s seat as the Senate president.

Among the senators, who the Senate president is sitting upon his defection notice is Senator Adamu Bulkachuwa, who submitted his defection letter Lawan. It is believed that some of these Senators are angered by the fact that they lost their party’s ticket to contest the 2023 election.