Not fewer than 200 members of the House of Representatives have endorsed a motion seeking to institute impeachment proceedings against President Goodluck Jonathan, House minority whip, Rep. Samson Osagie, has said.
Osagie (APC Edo), told Sunday Trust in Abuja that they have far exceeded the number required by the constitution to serve president Jonathan impeachment notice.
Members of the House began collecting signatures for a motion against the president last Thursday following a siege on the National Assembly by police.
Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal and other lawmakers were locked out of the parliament building for hours and had to scale the fence but on getting inside the complex, they were tear gassed by police.
The House was reconvened to consider the emergency rule extension in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states, a request forwarded by the president but police laid siege to the National Assembly preventing lawmakers and workers from gaining access into the building.
Members had on Thursday commenced collecting signatures after a motion on the matter was tabled by an MP from Kano State.
Osagie told Sunday Trust that there are over 20 impeachable offences against the president which include, “gross incompetence in the administration of the nation, mismanagement of the nation’s resources resulting in untold hardship on the citizens and inability to recover stolen funds from various ministries and agencies”. Other offences according to Osagie are: “unconstitutional use of security agencies against perceived opponents, non-implementation of the budget, entrenchment of corruption and defiling of the institution of the legislature among others.
“The constitution said we need only one third of members of the National Assembly to serve the president impeachment motion and I can confirm that we have surpassed that number,” Osagie added.
He said the constitution says the president can be impeached if he is found guilty of gross misconduct and that the offences he enumerated constitutes gross misconduct.
Members of the House began collecting signatures for a motion against the president last Thursday following a siege on the National Assembly by police.
Speaker Aminu Waziri Tambuwal and other lawmakers were locked out of the parliament building for hours and had to scale the fence but on getting inside the complex, they were tear gassed by police.
The House was reconvened to consider the emergency rule extension in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states, a request forwarded by the president but police laid siege to the National Assembly preventing lawmakers and workers from gaining access into the building.
Members had on Thursday commenced collecting signatures after a motion on the matter was tabled by an MP from Kano State.
Osagie told Sunday Trust that there are over 20 impeachable offences against the president which include, “gross incompetence in the administration of the nation, mismanagement of the nation’s resources resulting in untold hardship on the citizens and inability to recover stolen funds from various ministries and agencies”. Other offences according to Osagie are: “unconstitutional use of security agencies against perceived opponents, non-implementation of the budget, entrenchment of corruption and defiling of the institution of the legislature among others.
“The constitution said we need only one third of members of the National Assembly to serve the president impeachment motion and I can confirm that we have surpassed that number,” Osagie added.
He said the constitution says the president can be impeached if he is found guilty of gross misconduct and that the offences he enumerated constitutes gross misconduct.
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