The deputy Majority Leader, Mr. Leo Ogor, and
some other Peoples Democratic Party members
of the House of Representatives have described
as a scam the inclusion of their names in the list
of Reps in support of President Goodluck
Jonathan’s impeachment.
Ogor told SUNDAY PUNCH on Friday that “the
claim of PDP members joining the purported
impeachment plot was a huge joke.”
He described it as “laughable and cheap
blackmail to mention the President’s key men in
the House as being part of the plot.”
The PDP lawmaker from Delta State added, “This
is clearly a scam. This is cheap blackmail by
people who have lost direction.
“How can anyone say Mulikat (Akande-Adeola)
and Leo Ogor are on the list to impeach
Jonathan? How can the President’s henchmen be
the ones to impeach him again?
“They say they have over 200 people and they
list PDP members, including myself and the
majority leader? Is it not laughable?”
Ogor advised Jonathan to “lose no sleep but
continue with his transformation agenda.”
He claimed the PDP caucus was intact and was
prepared for any group that would “dare” to
move any impeachment motion on the floor of
the House.
Similarly the Vice-Chairman, House Committee
on Information Communication Technology, Mr.
Tajudeen Yusuf, flayed the inclusion of his name
in the list of lawmakers plotting to remove
Jonathan.
Yusuf, a PDP member from Kogi State, expressed
shock over the development, saying he
condemned the act.
He said the impeachment was an agenda of the
opposition All Progressives Congress, which had
nothing to do with him.
Describing the list as fictitious, Yusuf challenged
the promoters of the impeachment project to
come out in the open to defend it.
He also demanded the publication of the full list
of the members.
He said, “I have never, at anytime, and will never
sit, join, participate in any meeting to discuss
any move that will work against President
Goodluck Jonathan’s lofty transformation
agenda, his government or the PDP.
“It is ridiculous and evil for the APC in its
unfortunate propaganda to insert names of PDP
members, in their ungodly and inept antics to
cause crisis in the polity.
“The APC should not delude itself by ascribing to
its members what they don’t have. Just like in
the past, the PDP remains the majority in the
House and at no time did PDP lose majority in
the House.”
Efforts to reach Akande-Adeola failed as she
neither picked her calls nor replied to a text
message sent to her.
The reaction of PDP Reps exposed the widening
crack in the impeachment plans.
Investigations showed the widening division was
as a result of more PDP members of the House,
becoming “hesitant” and avoiding being drawn
into “a hasty confrontation with Mr. President.”
It was gathered that the crack might be a
stumbling block for the mandatory “two-thirds
majority” (240 out of 360 members) required to
impeach Jonathan.
Lawmakers, largely from the APC, began
compiling signatures to impeach Jonathan soon
after last Thursday’s alleged invasion of the
National Assembly by the police and hooded
Department of State Service agents.
The compilation had gathered momentum, hitting
about 131 after some PDP members reportedly
joined the fray.
But investigations revealed that some of the PDP
lawmakers, who earlier “shared ideas on
Jonathan’s case” with their APC colleagues, were
unable to break into the main PDP group to sell
the ideas successfully.
However, another member, who pleaded not to
be named, insisted that the plan was on course
and had the backing of some PDP legislators.
The APC source berated Jonathan for allegedly
“killing the business of politics.”
The source criticised the President for allegedly
using state security apparatuses to muzzle the
opposition.
The source said, “This President is not a
democrat. He is not. The PDP people do not
want opposition.
“They are threatening people all over the place,
using the police and other agents of intimidation.
“Why is the President killing politics?
Politics is
the only business we have as politicians, but he
is killing it.
“We will keep the impeachment plan on course;
this is the first time we have come this far,
having the determination to compile signatures.”
The Chairman, House Committee on Justice, Mr.
Ahmad Ali, told SUNDAY PUNCH that the list had
more than one-third of House members to begin
the impeachment proceedings.
“We need one-third (120) to kick-start the
process.
“Right now, we have far more than one-third; so,
we can start when we resume,” he added.
But another source claimed that PDP members
were yet to be “decisive” because they were
unsure how the upcoming primaries of the party
would turn out.
“Many of them are holding on, hoping that they
will pick a return ticket.
“If they can’t get the ticket, the President must
be deceiving himself to conclude that all is well;
he will be surprised,” the source told SUNDAY
PUNCH .
The House spokesman, Mr. Zakari Mohammed,
confirmed that some members were indeed
compiling names to impeach Jonathan, but he
said he could not speak for them.
“I know of signatures, but not the number or
who belongs where. I don’t know how many they
are,” he stated.
Asked whether the leadership of the House
would likely interfere with the plan, Mohammed
said the leadership would not take a decision on
a matter not before it.
“I can only say, wait till we get to the bridge. We
will cross it on getting there. The House is still
on break till December 3,” he said.
Punch.
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