GEJ Faces Impeachment.

Monday, September 9, 2013

Jonathan Faces Impeachment, ASUU Strike No Longer Most Pressing

Yes, President Jonathan has more on his plate now to spend any time tackling the persistent strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities owing to the recent PDP crisis which is attracting impeachment.

SUNDAY PUNCH gathered that the lawmakers loyal to a faction of the party led by a former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, were said to be planning to get more lawmakers into their fold before the National Assembly resumes from its recess.

Since the formation of the New PDP, the faction loyal to Atiku, 77 lawmakers from the National Assembly have pledged their loyalty to the group. This is not the first time that an impeachment threat will dangle over President Jonathan. Last year, the House of Representatives threatened to impeach the President over the poor implementation of the 2012 budget. However, the move by the New PDP was said to have leaked to the Presidency early last week and President Goodluck Jonathan was said to have convened a meeting with members of his kitchen cabinet in Abuja to checkmate the move. The meeting which held on Tuesday was widely reported as a move to find a way to halt the party's crisis. But competent sources told one of our correspondents that it was a move to stave off the impeachment move by the rebellious PDP legislators. State governors at the meeting included Emmanuel Uduaghan (Delta); Ramalan Yero (Kaduna); Gabriel Suswam (Benue); Theodore Orji (Abia); Ibrahim Dankwambo (Gombe); Liyel Imoke (Cross River), Serieke Dickson (Bayelsa); Godswill Akpabio (Akwa Ibom); Idris Wada (Kogi); and Isa Yuguda (Bauchi). Also at the meeting were Vice-President Namadi Sambo; PDP National Chairman, Bamanga Tukur; Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim; Special Adviser to the President on Political Affairs, Ahmed Gulak; and Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati. A governor, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the President was angry that the new faction had received support from some members of the National Assembly. The governor said, "That was why our national chairman, Dr. Bamanga Tukur, was asked to address a press conference, with a mandate that those lawmakers risked their seats being declared vacant if they did not retrace their steps. "Because we know that as soon as the lawmakers resume from their break, they may start something funny against the President. While they may not remove him, they may use that to further distract him."

 For those that are not conversant with political issues, I'll give a brief chat on the deterioration and possible disintegration of PDP. PDP crisis has been as old as Dr. Bamanga Tukur's reign as chairman of PDP. However the revolt and rebellion started when a fraction of PDP left the Eagles square during her last convention due to dissatisfaction on the way the party was led. According to a founding member of PDP, the President and his team are contravening party rules and regulation, suspending members at will, and undemocratically fixing people who will favour his 2015 Presidential campaign. The chairman of ASUU explained their unwillingness to settle for anything less than the 2011 agreement ASUU had with the federal government, he even stated that even if it lasted a year they wont break. The federal government already muscled out 130 billion naira, and the Coordinating minister of the economy made it clear federal government can not meet with ASUU demands. Lecturers will be paid for the period they strike. Do you logically believe students will resume this year?