The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Akwa Ibom State Chapter, has challenged President Muhammadu Buhari to be sincere about his health status and toe the path of honour by bowing out of office, if he can no longer function as President.
On Tuesday, March 9, 2010, the current Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari called for the impeachment of then President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua who was ill and had not been seen in public since Monday, November 23, 2009.
Buhari urged the Executive Council of the Federation (EXCOF) to declare Yar’Adua incapacitated and have him impeached due to his inability to carry out his official duties.
The former Head of State said further that Yar’Adua’s removal was the only viable option out of the political logjam caused by his long absence.
Buhari made the comments when members of the National Unity Forum paid him a visit in Kaduna.
He also criticized the National Assembly for using “extra-constitutional measures” to empower Goodluck Jonathan as Acting President when the constitution already had a solution to the problem.
The Senate had, on February 9, 2010, controversially used the “doctrine of necessity” to transfer presidential powers to Jonathan, and declared him Acting President until Yar’Adua returned to full health.
“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,” Buhari said.
“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 Executive Council of the Federation must do the right thing because once we start moving away from the constitution, then we are inviting anarchy,” Buhari added.
In response to Buhari however, the Senate said that it would not impeach Yar’Adua despite pressure to do so.
Vice Chairman of the Senate Committee on Information and Media, Anthony Manzo, said, after plenary on Wednesday, March 10, 2010, that the Senate “has already spoken,” citing the resolution “which is working, the one that enabled the Vice President to become Acting President.”
Manzo also said that the Senate believes that “the situation is stable,” and “as for impeachment, it is a process, but that is not something that we are contemplating at this time.”
Yar’Adua eventually died on May 5, 2010, making his Vice President, Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria’s new president.
The Party stressed that Buhari should now do so, since he demanded same from late President Umar Musa Yar’Adua in 2009.
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Speaking to DAILY SUN in Uyo, the Publicity Secretary of the PDP in the state, Ini Ememobong, said: “Much as I sympathize with Mr. President, it depends on the kind of illness.
“If it is prolonged and it is obvious that he may not recover, the President should know what to do. There are different types of illnesses.
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“We have prolonged illnesses; we have brief illnesses. Incidentally, it is even brief illness that kills people more. In the current circumstances, the President has admitted that he has never been this sick.