Angered by the current political crises facing Nigeria, northern leaders, youths as well as progressives from other parts of the country are planning a series of protests geared at pushing the National Assembly to begin impeachment moves against President Goodluck Jonathan.
The President of the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, AYCF, Alhaji Shettima Yerima, disclosed this to P.M. NEWS Wednesday, saying this was the outcome of the meeting he was part of Tuesday.
He said the mobilisation had begun and that, all other things being equal, the mass protests would begin in the coming weeks.
“We are going to organise a mass protest to the National Assembly for the impeachment of President Jonathan. The situation under him is no longer bearable and we cannot fold our hands to see him truncate a democracy many fought for with their lives and blood. We are currently meeting,” he told P.M.NEWS on the phone.
He urged other progressives to join the effort to sanitise governance in the country, saying it was for the benefit of every citizen.
Recalling the incident that occurred in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, southsouth Nigeria, Tuesday, during which four governors from the northern part of the country were held hostage by anti-Governor rotimi Amaechi protesters, he said this was why well-meaning Nigerians had clamoured for a change of the constitution for true federalism.
“They came to see the chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum(Amaechi)and to show solidarity, but what happened was unfortunate.
“We have decided not to look at the issue as an attack against ‘northern governors’ but an attack on duly elected governors of the country. This government does not have respect for the rule of law.
“Any moment from now, we are going to start compelling the National Assembly to start the impeachment of the President,” he declared.
He also noted that such brigandage cannot happen in the United States as President Barack Obama cannot demean any governor of a state in that country like it is happening here in Nigeria.
Yesterday, in reaction to the current political turmoil in the country, six prominent socio-cultural and political groups in the north- the Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, the Northern Elders Forum, NEF, the Northern Union, NU, the Arewa Reawakening Forum, ARF, Arewa Research and Development Project, ARDP, and the Code Group, CG, accused the President of leading the country to anarchy, lamenting the level of lawlessness and high-handedness that has overtaken the political landscape of the country.
They also accused Patience Jonathan, wife of the President, of abusing the rule of law just because of her husband’s desire to stay in office beyond 2015.
Speaking through Ango Abdullahi, former Vice Chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University, they warned President Jonathan not to recontest, saying he “must be ready to concede power to a northerner in 2015.
According to them, “the alarming rate at which politicians tend to manoeuvre themselves to vantage positions for the electoral contests of 2015 is a major threat to the elections themselves and ultimately the democratic process.
“The clumsy and embarrassing conduct and fallout of the election in the Governor’s forum, the engineered crisis in the ruling party, the role of the spouse of the President in affairs of the state and shameful and disturbing abuse of power and rule of law in Rivers State are signs that Nigeria is descending into anarchy and lawlessness rarely seen in our history.”
[PMNews]