The spokesman of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, on Monday asked the National Assembly to impeach President Muhammadu Buhari if he is unable to secure Nigerians against Boko Haram/ISlamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) terrorism, banditry, kidnapping and other criminal activities.
The president has come under intense pressure as a result of the rising insecurity in the country.
Speaking on Kakaaki, an AIT programme, on Monday, Baba-Ahmed charged those who have constitutional responsibility to realise that the country is in a dire state, and do something other than just talking and making promises.
“One option we have is that the legislators will look at the record of the administration, understand the areas where the president has failed, understand areas where there is clearly no evidence that they’re going to do anything about it and refer to the constitution that says the whole purpose of government is to secure citizens and pursue their welfare.”
“If Buhari fails to do that, for me, those are impeachable offences. In the last six months, two years, what has the president done to secure the country? Absolutely nothing has been done and yet you see increasing failure of the state to protect citizens,” he said.
“Or, as our democratic system provides, those with the responsibility to get them off, should impeach those who are failing. If the president can’t deliver, he should be impeached.
“We don’t have a national assembly that appears to have the levels of patriotism and concern beyond partisan politics to realise that when this roof falls, it also falls on their heads.
“Partisanship is so pronounced that the people we elected and sent to Abuja think they serve the president rather than the Nigerian people.”
According to Baba-Ahmed, the second option is for citizens to get together and decide to do something.
He said the third option is: “Those leaders who are failing will recognize the fact that they are the problem, and they will resign because they clearly have nothing to offer in terms of leadership.
Baba-Ahmed spoke few days after the presidency said some leaders were pushing for regime change.
This story first appeared in Daily Trust, https://dailytrust.com/hakeem-baba-ahmed-if-buhari-cant-deliver-he-should-be-impeached