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Shehu Sani, a former Senator, has said that even though it would have been good for President Muhammadu Buhari to be impeached, it is technically impossible.
He advised the opposition lawmakers to instead channel their attention on removing the ruling party ahead of the 2022 general elections.
According to Sani, even though Buhari’s impeach will serve the country good given the state of insecurity in the country, the complex process of impeachment entrenched in the 1999 Constitution makes it technically impossible to succeed before the 2023 elections.
He disclosed this on Wednesday during a Premium Times forum on Twitter titled ‘Insecurity: Should President Muhammadu Buhari be impeached?’
Recall that the senate minority caucus had last week issued a six weeks ultimatum to President Buhari to tackle insecurity across the country or face impeachment.
Reacting, Sani said it will amount to a waste of energy to attempt impeaching the President, advising the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to instead focus on winning the general election.
He said, “At a time like this, what should be most important is how to dislodge the present political party. Any other thing can be a serious distraction,” Mr Sani, a former PDP governorship aspirant in Kaduna said.
“The Chairman (Iyorcha Ayu) of the PDP was also a former Senate President. He knows the details and the issues in the National Assembly. I think the party should preoccupy itself with the strategy on how to win the election.
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“Dissipating energy on the issue of impeachment can even affect the next election. If it is easier, I believe the president should be impeached today, and if there would be no consequences. If you go to the details, it would take months and with leadership like Senate President Ahmad Lawan and Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila, who are already in sync with the government, it is going to be energy wasted.”
The governorship aspirant in Kaduna State said his stance is based on his experience as a senator.
He added, “At a period like this in the National Assembly, when the whole tenure of the administration is coming to an end– and they already proceeded on annual recess, by the time they are back, there would never be a full quorum in the National Assembly,” he said.
“Many seats will be empty until the end of the year because the senators and Reps will have to retrieve back to their constituencies, struggling for their political lives.”
Sani expressed the belief that the impeachment threat “is more symbolic to send a message to the president that he has failed and the National Assembly is taking him on.”
“What is important is for them to summon the service chiefs continuously and to call for their removal. That is within the purview of the president.
“But it could have been good for the president to be impeached. As someone who has been within the system, I know that it is technically impossible,” he said.
Source: Premiumtimes