The lawmaker representing Benue North-West senatorial district, Senator Orker Jev, has disclosed that President Muhammadu Buhari could really be impeached.
The lawmaker, who is a member of the minority caucus, noted that plans by the Senate to impeach the president were not a farce and would be followed through if the conditions attached to the six-week ultimate are not met.
Senator Jev made the disclosure during an interview with Punch over the weekend.
ATTENTION: Click “HERE” to join our WhatsApp group and receive News updates directly on your WhatsApp!
He said the issue of insecurity was an issue of national concern and has nothing to do with party, adding that even lawmakers of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) were tired of defending the President.
Senator Jev, who revealed that the move to impeach Buhari was supported by all the senators except one, as they were all dissatisfied with the situation.
“Almost everyone, regardless of party affiliation, was dissatisfied with the state of the country.
“Everybody has agreed that insecurity is the number one problem we have in this country. At the point we were talking, it had come to the nation’s capital.
“There are some representatives who can no longer go to their places again because of insecurity in their areas. Now it has come to the nation’s capital, so where are you going to run to?
“So, the whole thing was driving home to everyone, and we have some people who have been core supporters of the President for the past three years or so, not just the APC but hard core supporters, as I always cite Senator Bokachua, who is still a member of the APC as we speak.
“But the assault on the capital territory is a tipping point for everybody, including the hard-core supporters of Mr. President.
“Of course, several other issues were discovered, but that was the core issue. So the insecurity has reached the stage that the APC senators can no longer come out to defend the president.
“For instance, when I appeared on Channels TV, the anchor of the programme told me that to balance it, he had invited an APC senator but none of them came to defend the president on the programme.
“So also, I was invited to a programme at Radio Nigeria. As I prepared to honour the invitation, I saw a text message from the anchor that they were calling off the programme because there were efforts to get another senator from the other side but nobody was ready to come.
“Nobody is happy with what is happening in the country and no one is ready to stake his neck to defend what is indefensible. Some of us, even as opposition people, don’t seriously expect that the President will be impeached, but like a Tiv proverb, which translates to ‘there is no decent way of crying.’ So it was our cry to the President to do something about insecurity.
“So, let us hope that in those six weeks he will wake up because I heard what the spokesman for the president said which is very unfortunate. They think their job is to come and defend what is indefensible.
“The other time, one of the spokesmen was on air calling senators anarchists for doing our constitutional duty instead of focusing on why we raised that issue, and what we said was that insecurity has gotten out of hand.
“Have they forgotten that the man said he was coming to solve insecurity problems and was given the opportunity to address the bare minimum of what he promised, but he was unable to do so, and you are saying that no president can solve his country’s problems?”
Jev also applauded Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State for sounding the alarm early enough, even though his cry was not taken into consideration by the government.
“In other climes, Governor Samuel Ortom should have been applauded for sounding the alarm earlier than now that it would not be a surprise if one day these bandits entered the villa.
“Rather, he (Ortom) was abused and called names by the Presidency, and this is the situation we are in today. These people are so daring and have threatened to kidnap the President. They once attacked the convoy of the President, the most protected man in the country today.
Quizzed on if the impeachment wpulf be followed through if President Buhari fails to wake up to expectations, the lawmaker said;
“Let me tell you that impeachment is the only option we are seriously considering. I am talking from my vantage point, although some of us are expecting him to sit up.
“Whether it succeeds or not, this is a constitutional matter. Our constitution provides for impeachment.”
