Buhari: Yar’Adua’s Impeachment Only Viable Option

Written by This Day Wednesday, 10 March 2010 13:27

Former Head of State, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, has joined the growing number of Nigerians calling for the removal of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, maintaining that the only viable option out of the present political logjam in the country is for the Executive Council of the Federation (EXCOF) to declare the President incapacitated and have him impeached.   

According to Buhari, Nigeria should not have been in this situation in the first instance because the constitution has made it clear on how an ailing president could be succeeded.

He said the refusal by the EXCOF to apply constitutional provisions has led to the present chaotic situation.
Speaking in Kaduna yesterday when he received members of the National Unity Forum who paid him a solidarity visit, Buhari said it was wrong in the first place to introduce extra-constitutional measures to tackle problems already addressed by the constitution, adding that the joy of political expediency would never replace clear laid out regulations.

“Political expediency won't remedy this kind of problem because if the Executive Council of the Federation had acted in accordance with the constitution, by invoking the necessary sections to declare the President incapacitated, we would not have found ourselves in this present situation.

“As you can see, adopting extra-constitutional measures have not addressed the problem. If it had, we would not have been subjected to the raging debates and controversy going on.
“So, we must go back to the constitution. The EXCOF must do the right thing because once we start moving away from the constitution, then we are inviting anarchy,” Buhari added.

While urging Acting President Goodluck Jonathan to make electoral reform his priority, the former All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) presidential candidate said he had a feeling Nigerians would reject any imposition, or any government that wins power through unfair means. He said unless free and fair elections are conducted next year, both the polity and the country could not be stabilised.

According to him, the first measure of commitment to the electoral reform agenda is to reorganise the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and make it more effective. He said the electoral umpire, as it is currently constituted, would not give Nigerians what they need in 2011.

“Look at what happened in Anambra. Voters’ list went missing and a lot of people were denied the right to vote in the election. If INEC cannot organise credible poll in one state, how can they do it in 36 states and the FCT?” He asked.
Buhari urged the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led Federal Government to consider its days numbered, saying, “in one way or the other, the party will be out of office by next May”.

He therefore asked the Acting President to do everything within his power to “bow out gracefully”.
While appealing to the members of the forum to be steadfast in their quest for a better Nigeria, he assured them of his cooperation in their resolve to move the country forward.

Earlier in his remarks, Chairman of the forum, Alhaji Maigida Abdul, said they were in Buhari’s residence to seek for advice on how best they could carry out their programmes.

Following Yar’Adua’s return from Saudi Arabia after spending three months in a hospital and his inability to perform his constitutional role as President, various groups - the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Save Nigeria Group (SNG), Coalition of Northern Professionals and Courage in Leadership Initiative - have called for his impeachment.