The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has heaped the blame for the ongoing
crisis in Rivers State on President Goodluck Jonathan and asked the National
Assembly to immediately commence impeachment proceedings against him,
for failing to live up to his oath of office to uphold the Constitution of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria.
In a statement issued in Lagos on Wednesday by its National Publicity
Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said by Jonathan’s abhorrence of
the rule of law and majority rule, the latest indication of which is his
unmistakable support for a group of renegade lawmakers who are fomenting
trouble in Rivers State, the President has become a clear and present danger to
the country’s democracy, and must be shown the way out in accordance with
the Constitution.
”Under President Jonathan’s watch and with his tacit support, a few lawmakers
dictated to majority of the members of the Ogun State House of Assembly,
which was locked for a long time. Under President Jonathan’s watch, the
Nigerian Governors’ Forum was sabotaged by his minions who declared a
Governor with 16 votes a winner over the one who scored 19 votes, in a
injurious blow to the concept of democracy.
”And under his watch, five lawmakers – out of 32 – have become the majority
and, simply because they have the backing of the presidency, are now being
given police protection to disrupt the proceedings of the House. As we write,
Rivers state has been taken over by current and former militants who have
been unleashed to destabilize the state and cause a breakdown of law and
order, to pave the way for the imposition of a State of Emergency.
”This cannot and must be allowed to continue, hence our call on the National
Assembly to move quickly to remove the source of the crisis. Since this is no
longer an intra-party dispute and because of its potentials to set the country
on fire, we also call on civil society groups, professional bodies and ordinary
Nigerians to rise up and defend the rule of law and the supremacy of the
Constitution over arbitrariness,” ACN said.
The party decried the anarchy that is now reigning in Rivers, simply because
the five renegade lawmakers have the backing of the presidency, which has
emboldened them to take extra-Constitutional measures to try to remove the
majority-backed Speaker of the State House of Assembly.
”Taking a cue from the presidency, the State Commissioner of Police has turned
himself into a politician and abandoned his constitutional role. Instead of
providing security for the entire House to sit, he chose to back the renegades
and their thugs to unleash mayhem on their colleagues. This is what you get
when a leader dons the garb of a partisan instead of being a statesman.
All sorts of minions simply follow suit,” it said.
The party said that in the aftermath of the crisis, the soldiers attached to the
State House in Rivers have been withdrawn while there are real fears that the
police security will also be withdrawn by a Commissioner of Police who,
apparently, no longer takes orders from his boss.
”This is not the democracy that was watered with the blood of many Nigerians.
This not what Nigerians bargained for after years of military rule. We should not
and must not allow those who are now reaping where they did not sow to
reverse the little progress that we have made,” ACN warned.