Reps may impeach Jonathan

The House of Representatives on Friday
refused to rule out the possibility of initiating
impeachment moves against President
Goodluck Jonathan when it resumes next week.
House Committee Chairman on Information,
Hon Zakari Mohammed, said that such a step
would be taken if members raised it on the
floor of the chamber.
He stated this during an interaction with
newsmen in Abuja.
The House and the Senate are expected to
resume next Tuesday from their annual recess.
Although the House spokesman denied that
such moves are currently being made, he said
every issue including impeachment moves
against the President brought to the House
would be discussed on its merit.
According to him, “we will look at every issue
brought by members on its merit. I can’t tell
you that this and this is what we will do, it will
depend on what members bring to the
chamber.”
Mohammed also stated that the crisis in the
ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which
commands majority in the House and Senate,
would break the party if it is not resolved
quickly.
He claimed that the crisis would certainly
affect the business of the House as it resumes
sitting because of its vantage status in the
House and the country in general.
Mohammed stressed that, in view of the
majority position of the PDP in the House,
whatever affected it would definitely affect the
whole House and beyond.
Currently, the PDP has a total of 208 members
in the lower Chamber, while the All
Progressives Congress (APC) controls one 137
members.
Mohammed, who did not pretend in
announcing his membership of the factional
PDP, argued that it was not possible for the
crisis in the majority party not to influence the
activities of the House in the coming legislative
year, saying that more aggrieved members
would still join the “New PDP”.
The politician from Kwara State, therefore
warned that if the stakeholders failed to
resolve the crisis promptly, it would be
difficult to use the party as a platform to win
any elections in Nigeria in the near future.
It would be recalled that about 57 members of
the PDP in the House recently declared their
allegiance to the Kawu Baraje-led PDP faction
as a result of their disenchantment with the
recent national convention of the party in the
nation’s political capital, Abuja.
On other issues that would be in the front
burner as the House resumes, the Chairman,
House Committee on Media and Public Affairs
noted that the constitutional review process,
Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) and
strengthening the House oversight of the MDAs
would be given priority attention by the
lawmakers.
On the discrepancies in some of the items
passed by both Senate and the House in the
on-going constitution review process, the
committee boss said that a conference
committee would be raised to address the grey
areas so that the National Assembly would
come up with a common position in all the
issues to be reviewed.
He further pointed out that the House standing
Committee on Education was giving enough
attention to the persistent strike by the
Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU),
saying that the situation did not require the
whole House to summon an emergency session
as suggested by some political analysts.