Senator Matthew Urhoghide (PDP, Edo) had moved a motion last Thursday that Section 143 of the 1999 Constitution be invoked over the payment of $496 million to the US government for the purchase of Super Tucano aircraft without the National Assembly’s approval.
Urhoghide was supported by senators Chukwuka Utazi (PDP, Enugu) and Sam Anyanwu (PDP, Imo) who said the impeachment process should commence.
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Ndume said the plot could never stand because of three reasons: “One, Buhari made the expenditure with genuine reasons. There were several efforts to purchase the aircraft previously that failed because of alleged human right abuses.
“With the coming of President Buhari, because of his integrity, acceptance and international support, the US government gave us the go-ahead to pay for the Super Tucano aircraft. The president made the payment to the US government not through a contractor,” he said.
He said the second reason was because the president’s action was covered by Section 82 of the 1999 Constitution as amended.
“Three, precedents have been set by previous administrations. There have never been a time when money is spent from excess crude account and approval is sought from the National Assembly since 1999.
“But, this time around, the president wrote the National Assembly that the expenditure be captured in the 2018 budget which is before us,” he said.
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Citing Section 143 of the Constitution, Ndume said the procedure for the impeachment of a president was tedious and that it could not be achieved by a mere motion.
“As we are now, there is no how two-third majority can be secured to impeach President Muhammadu Buhari. My advice is that we should concentrate on budget and other legislations that will be beneficial to the citizens.
“We should not just over heat the polity because it will be exercise in futility, it is dead on arrival,” he said.（Daily Trust）
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