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We’ve enough votes to remove president –Reps

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3 years ago

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House of Reps

•Impeachment threats self-serving -Kachikwu

Twenty-four hours after some senators served an impeachment notice on President Muhammadu Buhari over worsening insecurity, their counterparts in the House of Representatives, have also joined the fray.

Senators from the various opposition parties and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) had on Wednesday after storming out of plenary told newsmen that they were giving President Buhari six weeks to address the problem of insecurity across the country or face impeachment.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) caucus in the Senate met with their House of Representatives counter parts, yesterday, at the Senate Hearing room for a joint action.

Briefing newsmen, Minority Leader in the House of Representatives, Ndudi Elumelu, said they were on the same page with their Senate counterparts as Abuja in particular and Nigeria generally, were no longer safe.

He said both chambers had given the Presidency all the required legislative supports to fight insecurity in the last six years without any tangible result to show for such interventions.

He said: “The nation has been awashed with what happened yesterday (Wednesday) in the Senate where our colleagues had to walk out in protest as to the state of the nation as regards to the issue of insecurity in the nation.

“Concurrently, even though we did not do it exactly the way they did it, we also drew the House’s attention as to what is happening in Nigeria, most importantly in FCT. In FCT, just few weeks back, Kuje Prison was invaded. Few days back, the law school on Bwari road, some very, very important Nigerians in the armed forces were butchered by insurgents…. 

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“We think that it is high time the insecurity of this nation is addressed. And of course, we also have the issue of oil theft which has risen now making it difficult for us to earn income from oil revenue. And these and many others are the reasons we are joining our colleagues in the Senate to ask Mr. President to address the insecurity of this nation within six and eight weeks. Otherwise, we will find the constitutional means to ensure that we serve him an impeachment notice.”

Earlier at the briefing, Senate Minority Leader, Philip Tanimu Aduda, said the move to make President Buhari shape up or ship out, as far as the problem of insecurity is concerned, is not restricted to federal lawmakers in the minority parties but also those in the ruling party.

“Our actions yesterday were spontaneous from the issues that were raised on the floor of the Senate. I am sure that members of the Press must have interacted with our various colleagues to know that this issue is not just about the PDP caucus but it is a bipartisan issue.

“We all agreed that the security architecture is failing and there is need to salvage it immediately and we also agreed that we must issue an impeachment notice to the President if the situation keeps deteriorating because the primary responsibility of government is the protection of lives of the citizens,” he said.

However, the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Dumebi Kachikwu, has described the impeachment threats as self-serving.

Kachikwu, in a statement by his media office in Abuja, yesterday, called on the leadership of the National Assembly to resign before calling for the president’s resignation.

He said his position has become imperative because the National Assembly is complicit in the failure of government in the country which has resulted in the deteriorating security situation in the country.

Kachikwu said: “I was very amused to hear some senators and members of the House of Representatives call for the president’s impeachment.

“This is a self-serving call. The same people who have refused to do their jobs in the last three years have just woken up to realise that the president should be impeached. What has happened that is different from what has been happening since president Buhari was sworn-in seven years ago for the first term and three years ago for the second term? Are the attacks today any different? Are the deaths less or more meaningful?

“Is there any life worth more than the other? Are they reacting now because Abuja is threatened? 

“The National Assembly is complicit in the failure of this government so they should ask their leadership to resign before calling on President Buhari to resign.”

He lamented that the checks and balances enshrined in the nation’s Constitution “never envisaged that Nigerians would be saddled with a spineless and self-serving legislature.

“Yes, Buhari has failed and should resign or be impeached but he failed because the legislature failed in their duties. The entire leadership of the National Assembly should also resign or be impeached. This is the double-edged sword called doctrine of collective responsibility.”

Sun

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Why governors’ forum is silent on Rivers emergency, by DG

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2 days ago

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March 23, 2025

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Why governors’ forum is silent on Rivers emergency, by DG

The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) yesterday attributed its neutral position on the recent declaration of a state of emergency in Rivers State to the need to steer clear of taking positions that may alienate members with varying political interests.

Taking positions on contentious partisan issues, the NGF said, would not augur well for it, especially in view of its past experience in fundamental division.

Notwithstanding, the declaration of the state of emergency by President Bola Tinubu yesterday generated more kudos and knocks from across the country.

Special Adviser to the President on Senate Matters, Senator Basheer Lado, said the action of the president was meant to ensure protection of lives and restoration of law and order in the state, while the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Public Communications, Sunday Dare, said his principal  was required  to “avert needless harm and destruction .”

National Publicity Secretary of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Felix Morka, said Tinubu, by his action, cleared what had manifested as a constitutional crisis in Rivers state.

But former President Goodluck Jonathan saw it from a different perspective.

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He described “abuse of office and power by the three arms of government in the country“ as a dent on Nigeria’s image.

The NGF, in a statement by its Director General Abdulateef Shittu, said it is essentially “an umbrella body for sub-national governments to promote unified policy positions and collaborate with relevant stakeholders in pursuit of sustainable socio-economic growth and the well-being of the people.”

It added: “As a technical and policy hub comprising governors elected on different platforms, the body elects to steer clear of taking positions that may alienate members with varying political interests.

“In whatever language it is written, taking positions on contentious partisan issues would mean a poor sense of history — just a few years after the forum survived a fundamental division following political differences among its members.

“Regardless, the Forum is reputed for its bold positions on governance and general policy matters of profound consequences, such as wages, taxes, education and universal healthcare, among others.”

It asked for “the understanding of the public and the media, confident that appropriate platforms and crisis management mechanisms would take care of any such issues.”

Why governors’ forum is silent on Rivers emergency, by DG

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Rivers: Tinubu acted to save state, economy, says Karimi

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2 days ago

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March 22, 2025

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Chairman of the Senate Services Sunday Karimi

Rivers: Tinubu acted to save state, economy, says Karimi

Chairman of the Senate Services Sunday Karimi has hailed President Bola Tinubu for the decision to declare a state of emergency in Rivers State.

 He told reporters on Friday in Abuja that the President acted in the best interest of the State and Nigeria, having taken his decision in compliance with the Constitution.

“No President or government worth a name, will fold its arms and watch a political situation deteriorate to what we saw unfolding in Rivers State.

“We saw that bombing of pipelines had begun, and the security situation was getting worse with the tension everywhere”, Karimi stated.

Karimi, who represents Kogi-West on the ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC), recalled the “fatherly role” Tinubu had played in the crisis since 2023 in a bid to get the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, and suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara to reach an understanding, to no avail.

He explained: “We were all here in 2023 when Mr President called that truce meeting at the Aso Rock Villa. There was the eight-point agenda for settlement reached between the factions.

“When Nigerians expected that progress should be made to achieve peace, things started deteriorating considerably to a point where the governor demolished the House of Assembly building and administered the state with only three legislators.”

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Karimi observed that with the recent judgment of the Supreme Court, which gave the upper hand to the 27 lawmakers loyal to the camp of the FCT Minister, matters merely got worse in the State as the lawmakers were set to impeach the Governor.

“What did you expect would be the implications? There would have been more destruction, killings and economic losses for the country.

“With the bombings that had already started, it was a matter of time before the whole state would be engulfed in flames. No responsible President would sit, arms folded, and allow that to happen “ he added.

The senator further argued that it took “painstaking efforts” by the administration to raise daily crude oil production to around 1,800 barrels, noting that Nigeria’s economy was already “witnessing a rebound under the renewed hope projects of the government.”

“Allowing the situation in Rivers to get worse before he would act, wouldn’t have helped the state or Nigeria as a country in any way.

“Mr. President intervened at the right time, and his actions are covered by law,” he said.

Karimi also spoke on the emergency declaration  in Borno, Yobe, Adamawa and a couple of other states by former President Goodluck Jonathan without removing the Governors from office or suspending the state assemblies.

According to him, the case with those States was not generated by political crises but rather security concerns.

“So, I will advise those comparing the two scenarios to remember that one was purely about security threats resulting from the insurgency caused by Boko Haram, while that of Rivers is clearly political.

“It was the proper thing to do to suspend the political actors in the two factions to allow for tensions to diffuse. Nigerians should appreciate the President for the action he has taken so far,” he stated.

Sen. Karimi also noted that there was no cause for alarm as the National Assembly had indicated that the emergency rule could be reviewed as soon as there were signs that things could quickly normalise in Rivers State.

 

Rivers: Tinubu acted to save state, economy, says Karimi

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Just in: Tinubu swears in Rivers Sole Administrator Ibas

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5 days ago

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March 19, 2025

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Just in: Tinubu swears in Rivers Sole Administrator Ibok-ete Ibas 

President Bola Tinubu has sworn in Vice Vice Admiral Ibok-ete Ibas (Retd.) as the Sole Administrator of Rivers State.

The administrator was sworn in on Wednesday after a short meeting with the President.

Tinubu announced the appointment of the retired naval chief at a nationwide broadcast on Tuesday, when he declared a state of emergency in Rivers State and suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara, Deputy Governor, Ngozi Odu, and the state House of Assembly members.

The President said his decision was based on Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution, saying he could not continue to watch the political situation in Rivers escalate without taking concrete action.

The suspension of Fubara and other elected representatives has been rejected and condemned by many eminent Nigerians, legal luminaries, groups such as Atiku Abubakar, Peter Obi, Femi Falana, the Labour Party (LP), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Nigerian Bar Association.

However, the emergency rule has been praised by the pro-Nyesom Wike Assembly led by Martins Amaewhule, accusing Fubara of contravening the Supreme Court ruling on the political situation in the state.

Ibas was the Chief of Naval Staff from 2015 to 2021.

He is from Cross River State where he had his early education.

The new sole administrator went to the Nigerian Defence Academy in 1979 from where he proceeded to have a successful career in the Navy, rising through the ranks to the very top.

He is a member of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) and the Nigerian Institute of Management.

President Muhammadu Buhari who appointed him as Chief of Naval Staff conferred him with the National Honour of Commander of the Federal Republic (CFR) in 2022.

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