The presidency, Wednesday night, blew ‘hot’ over the call on President Muhammadu Buhari to resign without further ado.
Earlier in the day, Senate Minority Leader, Eyinnaya Abaribe (of the People’s Democratic Party – PDP), with a few words of mouth, shook Nigeria’s leadership, the ruling party and their supporters.
He demanded Buhari’s resignation after noting that the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration has failed Nigerians.
Abaribe, in his contribution to a motion sponsored by the Senate Leader, Yahaya Abdullahi, on national security, said the nation’s leader and his government have been lying to Nigerians that Boko Haram has been defeated.
He said: “Those who live on propaganda shall die by propaganda. Defeat is staring us in the face.
“Nigerians did not elect the Chief of Staff, Nigerians did not elect heads of Security, Nigerians elected President Muhammadu Buhari in 2015 and in 2019.
“As it is, we are facing the head of the Nigerian government and this is President Buhari. He should resign with immediate effect.”
Reacting, Buhari, through his spokesman, Garba Shehu, declared that he won’t throw in the towel just because some characters think that he should resign.
He said, “That call does not represent the opinion of the country. This is the opinion of an armchair critic, known for making stray comments.
“If a leader like President Buhari needs to resign, there are millions of other Nigerians who need to resign, including Senator Abaribe who unlocked the door to enable the escape of traitorous and treasonable suspects.
“He signed the bond for the court to release Nnamdi Kanu on bail, from which moment the suspect disappeared into the thin air.
“Senator Abaribe has failed repeated deadlines to return Kanu to the court for trial, yet he has the effrontery with which to accuse someone of failing to the bidding of the law.
“This is a man who should have replaced the suspects he failed to produce in the correctional facility.
“Abaribe’s party raped the nation and left it collapsing in 2015 and President Buhari is fixing things up all the years he is in office.
“President Buhari is working hard to keep Nigeria and Nigerians out of the harm terrorists have unleashed in the entire Sahel and Sub-Saharan Africa with the support of Nigerians and our foreign friends, he is going to finish off these terrorists. He alone can do it.”
But in 2013, Buhari had asked the incumbent President, Goodluck Jonathan, to resign.
On May 23, 2013, Buhari, who was then the national leader of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) asked Jonathan to quit office over his inability to tackle the security challenges facing the country.
“Jonathan should vacate and give way to competent hand to govern the country,” he told journalists at his residence in Daura, Katsina State.
Buhari stated that the issue of security was a fundamental duty of any responsible government and that Jonathan had failed to protect the lives and property of Nigerians since he assumed power.
He said: “When the Niger Delta militants started their activities in the South-South, they were invited by the late President Umaru Yar’adua. An aircraft was sent to them and their leaders met with the late President in Aso Rock and discussed issues.
“They were given money and a training scheme was introduced for their members. But when the Boko Haram emerged in the north, members of the sect were killed.
“And when the police failed to address the insurgency, soldiers were invited and they captured the Boko Haram leader, Muhammad Yusuf, alive and handed him over to the police. But Yusuf was eventually killed, his in-law too was killed and their houses were demolished”.
Buhari added that the murder of the Boko Haram leader provoked his followers and fueled attacks and insecurity in Nigeria.
Speaking to DAILY POST, a security expert, Kabiru Adamu, while admitting that Nigeria faces a huge security challenge, said Abaribe called for Buhari’s resignation without elucidating his or PDP’s solutions.
He said: First, I would like to give a bit of context. The call was made during plenary. The Senate leadership, which the Minority Leader is part of, decided that, given the level of insecurity in the country, they would spend a whole day on the issue.
“I do agree that we have a security challenge; that it is the responsibility of government. The area I disagree with Senator Abaribe is his description that government is the executive. No. Government, in a democracy, is a combination of executive, legislature and judiciary. Yes, to a larger extent the executive is more visible.
“As a Nigerian, I am not going to blame the president but the legislature for not exercising their powers. I see Senator Abaribe’s comment as misplaced. Unfortunately, he lost an opportunity to present practical and verifiable solutions on a problem affecting all Nigerians. His call is political.
“As Minority Leader, he should have presented his party’s solutions so that we can say oh, the PDP seem to have better ideas. Perhaps, in conclusion, he could make the (resignation) statement. I would call on him and others to go back to the core issue, we need to join hands to solve this problem.
“The fact that lives and property are being lost is not political, it is real. An election was conducted in March 2019, 15 million Nigerians voted for Buhari. The fact that Senator Abaribe’s party presented a candidate, who did not get as many votes as the president, means more Nigerians believe in Buhari.
“Like the Senate President said, we cannot play politics with security. He is an APC member, he spoke the truth. My point is that we should look at the practical solutions. But If the parliament, as a whole, believes the president has failed in his responsibilities, they can make such a call, as a motion. They have such powers.”
