The Muslim
Rights Concern Group, MURIC has warned the National Assembly to put a halt to
any plans to Impeach President Muhammadu Buhari over the Withdrawal of
$462
million for the Purchase of Super Tuscano helicopters.
In a
statement made available to PoliticsNGR, the group said the National assembly
should stand with the people of Nigeria and stop every move to remove president
Buhari. Read the full statement below;
"The
National Assembly (NASS) is currently plotting to impeach President Muhammadu
Buhari. This followed a motion moved on the floor of the Senate on Tuesday 24th
April, 2018 by Senator Matthew Urhoghide. The senator asked his colleagues in
the Red Chamber to invoke Section 143 of the Nigerian Constitution to remove the
president because the latter approved the sum of $496 million for the purpose
of purchasing 12 Super Tucano war planes without recourse to the NASS.
Urhogide, a
People’s Democratic Party (PDP) senator representing Edo South Senatorial
District, insists that the president violated Section 80 of the Constitution
with the approval.
The Muslim
Rights Concern (MURIC) is stupefied by the attitude of members of the NASS. It
is bellicose and extremely hostile. The body language of Nigeria’s current
legislators manifests an acute desertification of parliamentary acumen.
It would
have been a different story if Buhari had approved such an amount to buy more
jets for the presidential fleet or for members of his family. But this is to
increase the combat readiness of our own military for crying out loud! Our
legislators are standing logic on its head.
Boko Haram
insurgents occupied seventeen local governments in Borno State and threatened
two other states in the North East: Adamawa and Yobe because the Jonathan
administration adopted a lackadaisical attitude to insecurity in the region.
Money meant for the purchase of arms for the military to fight the insurgents
was fraudulently shared among party faithful.
What did the
NASS do for former President Goodluck Jonathan in 1914when Pastor Ayo
Oritsejafor’s private jet which was stuffed with $9.3 million by Jonathan was
smuggled out of Nigeria to South Africa for ‘procurement of arms’? Why was
Jonathan’s unprincipled procedure overlooked while Buhari’s transparent,
standard and conventional global process must be castigated? What manner of
legislating is this? Who gave us these legislators? Who did this to Nigeria?
Who
appropriated the $9.3 million for Jonathan for the procurement of arms in South
Africa? Did he even write to the National Assembly to merely notify them about
his intention to procure those arms? Can anyone compare that to Buhari’s
transparent gesture? Is it not a mark of moral jaundice to demonise a noble
deal while a crooked transaction is idolised? Or what did the NASS dominated by
the PDP at the time do after the Jonathan-Oritsejafor dollar smuggling scandal
burst?
By the way,
who appropriated the $2.1 billion arms funds that President Jonathan carted
away and shared to his campaigners? Money meant for fighting insecurity
converted to campaign fund for Jonathan’s second term and the NASS turned a
blind eye.
This should
have been the focus of those organizing or instigating demonstrations over the
current general insecurity. This is where the leadership of the Christian
Association of Nigeria (CAN) got it wrong. They should have asked Jonathan
certain pertinent questions. They should have reminded him of what he did to
this country. The hard fact is that Jonathan paralysed Nigeria’s security
apparatus.
Which NASS
appropriated for Jonathan all the billions of dollars he took from the Excess
Crude Account with nothing to show for the billions? Did the PDP dominated NASS
ever say anything about those illegalities? So why is the current NASS taking
on Buhari for doing the needful?
Is it
because they want Buhari to fail in his determination to fight insurgency? Is
it because the war against corruption is succeeding? Are our legislators
unhappy because the looting tap is now dry? Must they vent their spleen on a
frugal president, a president who has refused to waste public funds? Is it
because they are scared of a second term presidency for Buhari? Or is it
because there is no under-the-table cut in the Super Tucano agreement for some
interests in the NASS? Sorry, but it is not in Buhari’s character. The party is
over.
Are the
British Commons and the Lords listening? Is the American Congress paying any
attention to this bastardisation of parliamentary values and degradation of
legislative norms in Nigeria? Insecurity has reached a scandalizing peak in
Nigeria but our legislators want to remove the president for striking a neat
deal to purchase arms in order to effectively combat terrorism.
Demonstrations
are being staged around the country over insecurity but our legislators care
less. We are already in the month of May but our legislators are yet to pass a
budget submitted to them about eight months ago. NASS owes Nigerians an
explanation. Is it because their palms have not been greased as usual? It is
just a question. No wonder foreign governments refer to Nigeria as
‘fantastically corrupt’.
We assure
members of the NASS that no matter what they do, Nigerians are proud of Buhari:
this is a president who is still using his predecessor’s old cars three years
after. Unlike most Nigerian politicians, although he has been a former military
head of state, a former military governor, a garrison commander, chairman of
the defunct Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF), he has no private jet, no foreign
account, no fleet of cars and no hilltop palatial houses.
Unlike his
predecessor, Buhari’s wife uses commercial planes when travelling outside
Nigeria and his ministers are not even allowed to fly first class either within
or outside the country. This is why Nigerians are passionate about Buhari.
Members of
the NASS must tell Nigerians: are you with us or are you with the enemies of
Nigeria? If you are with us you must leave Buhari alone. If you are with us you
must drop that irrational, odious and insidious move to impeach the people’s
president. It is preposterous and highly reprehensible for anyone to
contemplate impeaching the most transparent president Nigeria ever had. It is a
big shame that the NASS tolerated thieves for 16 years but find it difficult to
tolerate a honest man for three years! We can understand. We know Buhari is a
pain in the ass for looters.
In a
nutshell, we warn the NASS to stop Buhari’s impeachment process or face the
wrath of Nigerians and the anger of the civilized world. Many receive advice,
but only the wise profit by it."
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