Presidency Calls PDP Senators’ Attempt To Impeach Buhari As ‘Babyish Antics’

The presidency has reacted angrily to the move to remove President Muhammadu Buhari from office on Wednesday by the opposition lawmakers led by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

A statement issued and posted on his twitter page on Thursday by the President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, accused the opposition lawmakers of mischief and diversionary tactics.

The opposition lawmakers consisting of the PDP, New Nigeria Peoples Party and Labour Party, had staged a removal move on the president on Wednesday after agreeing behind closed-doors to raise the issue on the floor during plenary.

But no sooner had the Minority Leader of the Senate, Phillip Aduda, raised the issue than he was shut down by Lawan, prompting a walk out by all the opposition lawmakers across party lines.

Aduda later revealed that the president had been given six weeks to arrest the poor security situation in the country and rein in terrorists or be shown the way out of office.

However, saying that the senators are divided and confused, Shehu declared that such action against an administration that is at its last lap is best “performative and babyish antics”.

He hailed Senate President Ahmad Lawan’s “refusal on Wednesday to entertain the ridiculous motion to impeach our President” as “quite appropriate and correct.”

Shehu argued that, “Rather than making a mockery out of voters by trying to imitate what they see in America, the opposition would be well advised that their time would be better spent tackling the pressing issues Nigerians face, such as the current global cost of living crisis.

“Their continued failure to do so goes some way to explaining why they remain in opposition.”

He explained that, “In contrast, the President Muhammadu Buhari administration is committed to finding lasting solutions to the emerging security threats, including those left behind by the PDP in the South-South, the Northeast and throughout the federation.

“In the last 24 hours, two more Chibok girls were freed, in addition to the three brought home last week.

“These kinds of headline grabbing stunts for which the opposition is now well-known serve no one, least of all their constituents. We would respectfully remind them that it is those same constituents that they were elected to serve, and are paid to do so with public money,” he said.

He opined that, “We would welcome their collaboration in our efforts to solve the problems Nigerians face on a daily basis. No one is asking them to waste their time attempting to impeach a democratically elected President at the end of his second term – certainly not their constituents.

“They should ask themselves: do they want to be in government or do they want to be in the headlines? If they want to be in government, they should start acting like it and stop undermining Nigerian voters.”