President Goodluck Jonathan is to be served with impeachment notice when the House of Representatives reconvene on Wednesday; Rep. Mohammed Tahir Monguno has said.
Senators and members of the House of Representatives have commenced collecting signatures for the removal of the president after the November 20 security siege on the National Assembly.
During the siege, the speaker of the House Aminu Waziri Tambuwal and other lawmakers were tear-gassed by the police.
House members began collecting signatures that same day while senators followed suit two days after.
Already, 200 members and about 60 senators were said to have thrown their weight behind moves to oust the president.
Monguno, a former Attorney General of Borno State told Sunday Trust that he was one of the 200 members who signed the impeachment motion on November 20, saying, “some newspapers published names of those who signed the motion but my name was conspicuously omitted.”
He argued that president Jonathan had no reason to remain in office any more having failed to protect Nigerians against Boko Haram insurgents.
“The federal government led by President Goodluck Jonathan has woefully failed to discharge these responsibilities. The government which is solely responsible for the security of the people has failed to protect the lives and property of my constituents,” Monguno said.
According to him, “for five years now there have been consistent Boko Haram attacks in various parts of my constituency leading to the displacement of a whole local government in the constituency.
Jonathan has woefully failed to provide for the security and welfare of my constituents that was why I signed the motion to oust him.”
The lawmakers further accused the Jonathan administration of “monumental” corruption, saying, “for any development to take place there is the need for dividends of democracy to reach the people but because of the monumental corruption that has characterized this government, development is no longer reaching the people at the grass root and the federal government has clearly demonstrated lack of capacity to fight corruption. The executive arm of government led by President Jonathan is a massive failure.
Of all the alleged constitutional breaches by the president, Monguno said the security siege on national assembly was the final stroke that broke the camel’s back hence, the move to impeach Jonathan.
“We need only one third of the members of the House to serve the president impeachment notice and so far we have got far more than that so as we resume the motion will be formally tabled for the president to be notified.
It is only the removal that requires two third. When we reconvene on December 3rd the president will be served impeachment notice,” he explained.
