THE Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) called on the National Assembly to immediately commence impeachment proceedings against President Goodluck Jonathan, over his alleged bias in the handling of the political crises in Rivers State.
The opposition party blamed the president for the escalation of the crisis that led to a controversial change of leadership in the state House of Assembly.
It reasoned that Jonathan deserved impeachment, because he failed to live up to his oath of office to uphold the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
In a statement issued in Lagos on Wednesday by its national publicity secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said by his alleged unmistakable support for a group of lawmakers who were formenting trouble in the state, the president had become a clear and present danger to the country’s democracy, and must be shown the way out in accordance with the constitution.
According to the party, “Under President Jonathan’s watch, a few lawmakers dictated to majority of the members of the Ogun State House of Assembly, which was locked for a long time; five lawmakers – out of 32 – have become the majority and, simply because they have the backing of the presidency, are now being given police protection to disrupt the proceedings of the Rivers Assembly.”
It lamented that the state commissioner of police had turned himself into a politician and abandoned his constitutional role of providing security for the assembly.
Reacting, the presidency distanced President Jonathan from the ongoing crisis in the Rivers State, condemning the opposition ACN for trying to link it to the president.
Addressing newsmen in Abuja, the Senior Special Adviser to the President on Public Affairs, Dr Doyin Okupe, raised concern over a statement attributed to ACN’s spokesman, Alhaji Mohammed, adding that “once again, this position of the ACN is another condemnable, extremist and fundamentally flawed position by the opposition party.”
He said “for the avoidance of doubt and at the risk of repetitiveness, we wish to state categorically that in spite of what the ACN will want the Nigerian people to believe, President Jonathan is absolutely unconnected and definitely not involved in the political crisis that seemed to have engulfed Rivers State in recent times.
“The president is not, has not and will never engineer any act that can cause disaffection between Governor Amaechi or any other governor and the state legislature or any other institution of government.
“To avid watchers of Nigerian politics, President Jonathan has not shown himself as a person who will deploy his immense constitutional powers against any governor or democratic institution to achieve personal goals.”
Okupe observed that the call by the ACN for the impeachment of the president was “based on these frivolous, unsubstantiated allegations,” adding that it was now increasingly obvious that “the desperation of the ACN to bullishly acquire power by all means and at all cost, including mindless precipitation of anarchy, disaffection and breakdown of public order is the driving force behind their incessant, irresponsible and unpatriotic politics of hate and deceit and their high propensity to fan the embers of national discord, disunity and social disorder.”
The presidency called on parliamentarians and the general public to ignore and disregard “the self-serving and unpatriotic call” by the ACN for impeachment of the president.
Similarly, the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) condemned in strong terms, the ACN’s statement seeking to drag the president into the Rivers State crisis.
According to a statement issued by its acting national publicity secretary, Mr Tony Caesar Okeke, the statement, which also called for the impeachment of the president, was “malicious and the height of political irresponsibility.”
It accused the opposition of seeking to aggravate the situation in the state for selfish reasons.
“President Jonathan has continued to display commitment, candour and sincerity in handling national issues. It is, therefore, a sign of frustration, desperation and defeat for the opposition to call for the impeachment of the president on account of the issues in Rivers State,” the statement said.
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