Impeachment bid: Nigerians will hold n’assembly responsible if democracy is truncated, says NDF

The National Democratic Front (NDF) says Nigerians will hold the national assembly liable should President Muhammadu Buhari be “illegally impeached” and the nation’s democracy is truncated. 

The NDF said any attempt to overturn the mandate of Nigerians will be met with stern resistance.

The group made its position known in a statement signed by Bolaji Abdulkadir, its secretary-general, on Tuesday.

Kingsley Chinda, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) caucus of the house of representatives, had called for the impeachment of the president.

However, the NDF warned the house leadership to call the PDP to order against inciting a section of the population to revolt and cause a breakdown of law and order.

Abdulkadir noted that the country is already reeling from security breach and coming up with the impeachment bid will only further inflame the situation.

The NDF, therefore, urged that the NASS to curtail the activities of its PDP caucus as “Nigerians will hold the legislature responsible should anything happen to threaten our democracy”.

Read the full statement below:

The National Democratic Front (NDF) is alarmed at the calls for the impeachment of President Muhammadu Buhari particularly as demonstrated by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) caucus in the House of Representatives and the opposition’s propaganda machine.  NDF has resolved that Nigerians will hold the National Assembly liable should anything happen to the nation’s democracy.

Such calls and attempt to illegally sack President Buhari’s government can only be contemplated by anti-democratic forces and those who do not wish Nigeria well. It is most unfortunate that they are hiding behind the façade of being democrats when in reality they abhor the very tenets of democracy, which is why they are keen on using crude tactics to overturn the mandate that Nigerians gave the government.  

NDF is worried that the PDP caucus is exploiting its position as a vocal minority to incite a section of the population to revolt and cause a break down of law and order so that they will then use this as a basis to accuse the President of being autocratic. The country is already reeling from security breaches that have PDP discontent written all over it, coming up with the impeachment bid will only further inflame the situation. 

Rather than grandstanding and maligning President Buhari who is doing good work despite being constantly sabotaged by the opposition, the PDP caucus members should be brave to own up. This would at least offer meaningful insight into dismantling it.

It is disheartening that these House of Representatives Members claimed to represent millions of youths from nooks and crannies of Nigeria, but in reality, they have made it their mission to cause division and disunity among citizens. They hired themselves out as mercenaries to the opposition to threaten Nigeria’s democracy and causing strife by hijacking what was meant to be peaceful protests held across the country.

NDF is stating this because it is now obvious that the #EndSARS protests, the degenerating state of security, the coup plot being packaged as impeachment attempt and the desperation to emasculate the military are all the grand plan of the PDP and certain elements that are out to destabilize Nigeria. 

We remind Nigerians that in the runup to the 2019 General Elections NDF had severally raised the alarm about PDP’s plot to wreck Nigeria by precipitating crises that will result in the formation of an interim government populated by its members after it would have illegally ousted the President Buhari. Sadly, every single scenario that NDF anticipated in those warnings is now playing out. 

PDP working with other opposition elements and commercial activists has continued to attempt forcing a change in the leadership of the military, it has hijacked a citizens’ movement for unleashing destructive protests in several cities of the country and it is now attempting a full-blown coup plot under the guise of an impeachment demanded by its caucus in the National Assembly.  

NDF categorically demands that the National Assembly should curtail the activities of its PDP caucus as Nigerians will hold the legislature responsible should anything happen to threaten our democracy. The National Assembly has no business tolerating the excesses of people that have clearly outed themselves as enemies of the State.

As a show of our zero tolerance for unpatriotic elements, NDF is calling on the constituencies of the House of Representative Members to immediately begin the process for the recall of their errant representatives, who have continued to pursue sectional political interests as part of a PDP caucus instead of providing wholesome representation to the people they represent at the National Assembly. These members must also be booted out parliament because they monetized their roles by receiving payment in hard currency to overthrow the government, an action that jeopardizes national security.