President Muhammadu Buhari may soon be fighting to save his job, as the Senate makes insinuations to impeach him for what the National Assembly termed as an unconstitutional resolution to have ordered the deployment of Nigerian troops to Gambia without permission from the Lawmakers.
The Senate on Thursday criticized the Federal Government under the leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari, for deploying troops to The Gambia without seeking legislative approval.
The Nigerian Air Force had moved a contingent of 200 men and air assets, led by Air Commodore Tajudeen Yusuf, to Dakar, Senegal, which is the base of the Economic Community of West African States Military Intervention, to force President Yahya Jammeh of The Gambia out of power.
The Nigerian troops, which left from the 117 Air Combat Training Group camp in Kainji, Niger State, on Wednesday, joined troops from Senegal, Ghana and other countries in the West African sub-region.
But Senator Chukwuka Utazi, while raising a constitutional point of order, said what the Buhari-led government did was against the law, citing Section 5(4) of the Constitution. He was however ruled out by the Senate President, Bukola Saraki.
Section 5(4) states, “(a) the President shall not declare a state of war between the federation and another country except with the sanction of a resolution of both houses of the National Assembly sitting in a joint session; and (b) except with the prior approval of the senate, no member of the armed forces of the federation shall be deployed on combat duty outside Nigeria.”
However, Senator Utazi’s observation may have ignited the upper chamber into insinuations among the opposition members proposing the impeachment of Mr. President for his nonchalant attitude.