The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the House of Representatives have criticized the leadership of the House for threatening to sanction the leader of the PDP caucus, Mr Kingsley Chinda.
The House Leadership had threatened to sanction Hon. Chinda for calling for the impeachment of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Chinda caused a stir when he called on Nigerians to sway the National Assembly into commencing an impeachment process against the President.
The call came on the backdrop of security concerns like the killing of 43 rice farmers in Borno State by Boko Haram and the abduction of over 340 schoolboys in Kankara, Katsina state.
The Majority Leader of the House, Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, responded by issuing sanction threats to Chinda if he failed to stop calling for Buhari’s impeachment.
Ado-Doguwa fired this warning during an interview with journalists in Abuja, on Monday.
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Replying to the threats, a PDP member from Rivers State, Mr Awaji-Inombek Abiante, on Wednesday, pointed out that Chinda had not done nothing wrong.
He opined that it was only a case of Chinda speaking on behalf of his constituents and other Nigerians in his capacity as a representative.
Abiante ridiculed the House leadership for what he described as “a lack of understanding of the responsibilities of a legislative arm of government”.
“Does the House have the power to send a member elected by the people of a constituency out of legislative functions? The answer is no. If in the past, people have been so barred, my people elected me to be in the House and I speak on their behalf. Nobody has the right to take me out,” Abiante said.
Chinda then fired back at the House leadership, claiming to have the “backing of Nigerians”.
“You should ask if it would be fair to Nigerians. I speak for Nigerians. They should ask Nigerians to stop the call for the removal of President. I have the backing of the majority of Nigerians,” Chinda said.
While also reacting, a PDP member representing Degema /Bonny Federal Constituency in Rivers State, Farah Dagogo, blasted Ado-Doguwa for his threats.
“They ought to be experienced enough to know that Kingsley Chinda did not commit any legislative infraction with his patriotic call,” he stated.