Senators disagree on impeachment move against President Jonathan

The rumour of the plot of impeachment against President Goodluck Jonathan continued in the Senate on Tuesday as some senators from the two dominant political parties in the National Assembly disagreed on the impeachment plan.

Senator Alkali Jajere (Yobe South), who is the only known All Progressives Congress (APC) senator who has been at the centre of the impeachment bid since last week, insisted that the impeachment letter would be formally presented on December 16 when the Senate will resume from its two-week recess.


Senate adjourned for two weeks last week to enable members prepare for their primaries.

Jajere maintained his claim that 63 senators, eight of whom are Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members, had signed the impeachment letter.
 
But many have faulted the claim noting that 63 senators, excluding eight PDP members,will amount to 55.

Yet there are only 38 APC senators in the Senate, making many to wonder how the remaining 17 senators came about.

This false calculation has further heightened the suspicion that the impeachment plot is a hoax afterall.

But despite the arithmetic incoherence of his claims, Jajere, who also claimed that two more senators had indicated interest in signing the impeachment letter, added that the impeachment letter would be formally presented on the floor of the Senate on December 16.

He said: “As at last week, 63 of us had signed up for the impeachment. My signature was the fourth but I can confirm to you that we have 63 signatures but after the session today (yesterday) two people had called me and told me that they wanted to sign. One of them is an APC senator who was away doing campaign because he is contesting the governorship election of his state. The other person is a PDP senator.”

However, Jajere’s claim was dismissed by Shahabi Ya’u (Zamfara North). Ya’u, likef other senators, said though such move might exist in the House of Representatives, it remained a rumour in the Senate.

“I don’t think that there is anything like impeachment in the Senate. There could be something like that in the House of Representatives but I am not aware of such development in the Senate. Maybe some people are doing it underground but nobody has contacted me on the issue. For now, it is a rumour. The process is cumbersome even though there is need for that. How are we going to finish it? It is not only a distraction but also a waste of resources and energy,” Ya’u said.

Also dismissing the claim, Senator Ayogu Eze (Enugu North) did not mince words to describe Jajere as “a blatant liar” whose impeachment list does not exist anywhere.

Eze, a PDP senator, who said the reasons advanced for impeachment move against Jonathan stood logic on its head, added that the Senate would await the list which he said comprised only spirits and not men.

“Put me on record. Senator Jajere is a blatant liar for saying that 65 or 70 senators have signed his alleged impeachment list against President Jonathan. The said list is non-existent in the Senate and why didn’t you tell him to show you the list on which he said he is number four and in particular, asked him who is number 65 there?” He asked.

Eze who also said it would be hard for the group to get as many as 10 senators to sign up for the impeachment, described the promoters of the move as day dreamers who thought they could intimidate the president.

“To me, Jajere is a story teller. We are waiting for him and his other signatories who are more of spirits than human beings in the Senate. And let me put it to him and his other people that if they think they can intimidate the president or PDP out of power, they are just day dreaming because the man will contest the 2015 election and going by realities on ground, he will win. So, the earlier they realise this, the better for them,” he warned.

Credit: Omololu Ogunmade/Muhammad Bello/ThisDay