The All Progressives Congress, APC Rivers Chapter has advised President Jonathan to address the nation on crucial issues raised in the letter recently written to him by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in a matter of days, saying his silence is no longer golden!
But, the Senate Tuesday dismissed the call by the All Progressives Congress that the National Assembly should begin impeachment process against President Goodluck Jonathan, NAN reports.
Addressing newsmen on Tuesday in Abuja, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Media, Information and Public Affairs, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe (PDP-Abia), said the call was “utter rubbish”.
Abaribe made the statement after the plenary session, which was preceded by an executive session.
The Senate spokesman said during the executive session, the senators discussed matters of urgent national importance.
On the status of the 2014 budget, Abaribe said that the Conference Committee of the Senate and the House of Representatives met on Tuesday to resolve the matter.
A reliable source later told the News Agency of Nigeria that the committee had agreed on a $77.5 benchmark.
The Senate spokesman had earlier said that when the matter was resolved, the National Assembly would be open to receiving the budget from the president at anytime.
He said that depending on the situation on the ground, the Senate could reconvene even if it was on recess.
He said: “The Senate has the Rule 1(b), which is part of our rules, and it says we have options at all times to regulate our procedure.
“So, depending on the situation on ground, the Senate, if need be, will sit even on a Sunday.
“Of course, resolution of the matter also means the country will be in a position to receive the budget from Mr. President.
“This is what I can confirm.”
Abaribe said that the Senate would on Wednesday receive a briefing from the security chiefs in a close session.
He added: “The Senate will tomorrow host, in a close session, the leadership of the country’s armed forces for an interaction with regards to the security situation that the country is facing.
“After our interaction, if there’s need or if there’s something that we have to let you (newsmen) know, I will also let you know tomorrow after the interaction with the security chiefs.”
He said that the National Assembly would continue to support the armed forces to be sure that the security of every Nigerian was guaranteed.
Reacting to the statement made by the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega that elections might not hold in states under emergency rule Abaribe said there was no need for speculations.
He said: “I will not go into the realm of speculations.
“But I can say that the state of emergency is for every six months and then it will be reviewed.
“I believe that before any election will hold, that six months for a state of emergency would have elapsed and then we will also look at what the position is.
“So I don’t think that it will be right, at this time, to speculate on what is going to come forth in a year’s time because we know and we assume that things must have stabilised by that time.”
Abaribe said part of the briefing that the Senate would get from the service chiefs would also include knowing what the security situation was in all parts of the country.
But, Rivers APC chairman, Dr Davies Ikanya in a statement in Port Harcourt on Tuesday insisted the issues raised in General Obasanjo’s letter are too weighty to be swept under the carpet. He cautioned against attacking the personality of Obasanjo, saying it would be tantamount to attacking the messenger rather than addressing the issues raised, which, according to him, would determine the country’s future.
“We will not like to pass any judgement at the moment until we hear from Mr. President on some of the issues General Olusegun raised, particularly the allegation that the President is setting up a Presidential Strike Force to carry out terrorist attacks on political opponents and the one pertaining to the diversion of $49.8b from the Federation Account,” Dr. Ikanya said.
He also advised President Jonathan “to tell Nigerians if he did assure General Obasanjo as stated in his letter that he would not contest the 2015 general election and if, he did, to adopt the Mandela option and forgo the 2015 general election if truly he loves this nation. This will make him not only a statesman but also our own Mandela and thereby save our nation the trauma his perceived candidature for 2015 is causing the nation.”
Continuing, the Rivers State Interim APC Chairman questioned: “Has Mr. President any hand in the current plot to destabilise PDP as contained in the letter and trying to sacrifice Tukur for all his alleged muddling in the affairs of the party? What of the current effort by some of Mr. President’s aides to cause confusion in Rivers State through the ill-advised attempt by the minority lawmakers to impeach Governor Chibuike Amaechi? Mr. President must address the nation on all these allegations one by one and reassure us on our future as a nation. He should also address the massive corruption going on in the NNPC as alleged by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, and the CBN Governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. Keeping quiet on these serious and unfortunate issues is not helping matters.
“Our nation has suffered enough and Mr President must be seen as providing the leadership he was elected to deliver”, Dr Davies concluded.
