Kaduna — Former Head of State, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, has joined the growing number of Nigerians calling for the removal of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, maintaining that the only viable option out of the present political logjam in the country is for the Executive Council of the Federation (EXCOF) to declare the President incapacitated and have him impeached.
According to Buhari, Nigeria should not have been in this situation in the first instance because the constitution has made it clear on how an ailing president could be succeeded.
He said the refusal by the EXCOF to apply constitutional provisions has led to the present chaotic situation.
Speaking in Kaduna yesterday when he received members of the National Unity Forum who paid him a solidarity visit, Buhari said it was wrong in the first place to introduce extra-constitutional measures to tackle problems already addressed by the constitution, adding that the joy of political expediency would never replace clear laid out regulations.
"Political expediency won't remedy this kind of problem because if the Executive Council of the Federation had acted in accordance with the constitution, by invoking the necessary sections to declare the President incapacitated, we would not have found ourselves in this present situation.
"As you can see, adopting extra-constitutional measures have not addressed the problem. If it had, we would not have been subjected to the raging debates and controversy going on.
"So, we must go back to the constitution. The EXCOF must do the right thing because once we start moving away from the constitution, then we are inviting anarchy," Buhari added.
While urging Acting President Goodluck Jonathan to make electoral reform his priority, the former All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) presidential candidate said he had a feeling Nigerians would reject any imposition, or any government that wins power through unfair means. He said unless free and fair elections are conducted next year, both the polity and the country could not be stabilised.
According to him, the first measure of commitment to the electoral reform agenda is to reorganise the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and make it more effective. He said the electoral umpire, as it is currently constituted, would not give Nigerians what they need in 2011.
"Look at what happened in Anambra. Voters' list went missing and a lot of people were denied the right to vote in the election. If INEC cannot organise credible poll in one state, how can they do it in 36 states and the FCT?" He asked.
Buhari urged the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led Federal Government to consider its days numbered, saying, "in one way or the other, the party will be out of office by next May".
He therefore asked the Acting President to do everything within his power to "bow out gracefully".
While appealing to the members of the forum to be steadfast in their quest for a better Nigeria, he assured them of his cooperation in their resolve to move the country forward.
Earlier in his remarks, Chairman of the forum, Alhaji Maigida Abdul, said they were in Buhari's residence to seek for advice on how best they could carry out their programmes.
Following Yar'Adua's return from Saudi Arabia after spending three months in a hospital and his inability to perform his constitutional role as President, various groups - the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Save Nigeria Group (SNG), Coalition of Northern Professionals and Courage in Leadership Initiative - have called for his impeachment.
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ITS AMAZING HOW OVER 140MILLION PEOPLE CAN BE TAKEN FOR A RIDE. I BELIEVE WE KNOW THE ANSWER TO OUR PROBLEM, BUT SOME SELFISH INDIVIDUALS WITH THEIR SELFISH MOTIVES ARE BUSY TAKING US FOR A CHEAP RIDE. THE ANSWER TO OUR PROBLEM IS QUITE EASY "impeach the dead president and handover power to the man that is ready- MR Goodluck".
Besides the pressure that had been mounting against UMY since being incommunicado, under the camouflage of incapacitation, the constitutional provisions are adequate tools to apply, and there would have been no reason to talk of logjam, or political stalemate or other parlace, in that order. The facts behind this drama will, no doubt, be uncovered somehow, regardless of what the kitchen cabinet is doing and planning to submerge or pervert the course of overall political interest of Nigerians, and our body polity. It is too presumptious for us at this point to predict the outcome of the saga. People seemingly do not have respect for the rule of law because of self-interest, which are not sustainable. National interests are far greater than group, or sectional interest, and the desire to maintain any political hegemony. Lessons of history have pointed over and over in that direction. African leaders refuse to learn from the past always. Let's wait and see how far about this ghost presidency will last. Eben Dairo,Ph.d
Thank you Mr. Buhari for not mincing words to say what other spineless leaders have been reticent to say - IMPEACH YAR now to avoid overheating our nascent democracy that may fall anytime soon. Instead of Messrs. Soyinka & Utomi criticizing & threatening to sue the housemaid - Turai - these Agbayas should mobilize their followers to take to the streets to prevent the NASS members from leaving the premises until they Impeach the Evil Ghost, Emperor Yar, the Undead. A stitch in time saves nine.