Jonathan’s impeachment will stabilise democracy —APC

Mr. Lai Mohammed
| credits: File copy

The Interim National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, Mr. Lai Mohammed, reiterates the party’s call for the impeachment of President Goodluck Jonathan, in this interview with ALLWELL OKPI

The All Progressives Congress recently called for the impeachment of President Goodluck Jonathan. What prompted this call?

In our press release, we gave reasons for our asking for the President to be impeached. One is that we are running a democracy and particularly, it is a presidential system of government. That being so, it provides for separation of powers. Power is shared by the executive, the legislature and the judiciary. The system gives a lot of powers to the executive, but being conscious of human nature that this power could be abused, it also provides for checks and balances. That is why the constitution says the president or the governor can be removed if he is found guilty of charges of gross misconduct. In principle, what we said and did was simply following the constitution, which allows for the president to be impeached.

Can you mention the actions of President Jonathan that constitute gross misconduct?

We said the responsibility of any government is the security and welfare of the citizenry. The administration has failed to live up to the justification of its existence. We also complained of total failure of leadership, which has given birth to insecurity, unprecedented level of corruption, palpable impunity, massive unemployment, among other things. We gave examples of each of these. This country is currently swimming in corruption: Is it the oil subsidy scam that you want to talk about? Or the armoured vehicles scam? Or the pension scam? Or is it the N8trn missing fund discovered by the Central Bank of Nigeria, that you want to talk about? Or is it the missing SURE-P fund you want to talk about or the arbitrary distribution of money from the ecological fund to the cronies of the President? Or is it the impunity that has been going on for about one year in Rivers State that you want to talk about? The commissioner of police in Rivers has become the de facto chief executive. Let anybody say any of these did not happen or that any of them does not constitute gross misconduct. And for crying out loud, when did asking for the impeachment of the President become treasonable felony? This is a government that has run out of ideas. Everywhere in the world, parties call for the impeachment of the President. Even in the US, small parties call for the impeachment of Barack Obama for frivolous reasons. When has it become sacrilegious to ask that the President be impeached? If it was so, the constitution would not have put the impeachment clause there.

Did the letter by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to Jonathan play any role in your call for the President’s impeachment, considering that it was revealed a few days earlier?         

No, it (the letter) was not on the list. The letter only reinforced our call, but it is not on the list. The things on the list were not taken out of the letter. If we are going to be honest to ourselves, there is no issue in the letter, except the training of snipers and putting 1000 people on Jonathan’s political watch list. There is nothing in Obasanjo’s letter that we have not been saying. Is it about impunity; is it security; is it corruption? We have even spoken more than what Obasanjo wrote. If we are to compile what we have said about this administration, it would be a book, not a letter. It is interesting that even people in Jonathan’s party have said exactly what we have been saying about his administration; Obasanjo on one hand and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, on the other hand. Tambuwal said the body language of the President showed that he was encouraging corruption. Two months ago, we said he was an accessory to corruption; that his body language showed that he was not ready to fight corruption.

The Presidency has accused APC of seizing every opportunity to heat up the polity and has charged you with treasonable felony. What’s your reaction to that?

If the President is sure that he is not guilty of any of these misconducts, why is he afraid? Clearly, the answer to call for impeachment is not a charge of treasonable felony.

Considering how heated up the polity is ahead of 2015 elections, don’t you think impeaching the President now will throw this country into chaos?

How? Will it be the first time in a democracy that a president will be impeached?

But it would be the first in Nigeria.

Of course, we are a young democracy, that’s why. Nothing will stabilise Nigeria’s democracy more that the impeachment of the President; it will show people that democracy is not just about the right to choose your leaders, but also the right and the ability to get rid of them when they don’t perform.

With the rigorous process of impeaching a president, do you think it is possible for the National Assembly to impeach Jonathan?

What is the rigour? To serve the notice, you need only one-third of the members. You don’t need two-third to serve notice of impeachment. The next thing is to call the Chief Justice of Nigeria and put forth the allegations for him (Jonathan) to defend. If they are not satisfied, the CJN will constitute a committee. People will be shocked that by the time the process gain momentum, more and more people will join the impeachment train. We absolutely have no doubt in our minds that it is doable.

That means APC will be banking on its increased strength in the National Assembly.

Frankly speaking, most of these allegations are not wrongs against APC alone; they are wrongs and misdeeds affecting entire Nigeria. If you talk corruption and insecurity, even some states controlled by the Peoples Democratic Party suffer it more than APC states. You will be shocked that people that you think are on the President’s side will join the train of impeachment. So many people, who have been groaning but have not had the opportunity to air their views, will join.