Senator Urhoghide denies calling for President Buhari's impeachment

- The senator said he only called for invoking of a relevant section of the constitution and not impeachment

- The section quoted, he said, would make it imperative for President Buhari to explain his decision carried out without National Assembly contribution

- The Senator said an impeachment is a much larger process than what he called for

Senator Matthew Urhoghide has denied calling for President Muhammadu Buhari’s impeachment.

The lawmaker representing Edo South senatorial district in the Nigerian Senate, who moved the motion question the legality of President Buhari's withdrawal of $496m from the Excess Crude Account to by military aircraft from the United, said he was misquoted.

Punch reports that the Edo lawmaker said this in a chat with pressmen at the Benin Airport in Edo state.

Urhoghide said he never called for President Buhari's impeachment but only urged the Senate to invoke the relevant section of the Constitution so that President Buhari could explain why he took the decision to purchase the 12 aircrafts.

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He said: “The President had a good intention of buying the equipment but the procedure was wrong. And he too has accepted that it was wrong. We (lawmakers) swore to uphold the Constitution.

“An impeachment, if you check Section 143, is a long process. The first thing is you have to do an investigation and then correspondences will be entered into; the President has to be written by the President of the Senate, who is the chairman of the National Assembly.

“Then, of course, he (Buhari) too will reply and this has to go on for a long time. We have not reached this issue of an impeachment. Nobody on the floor of the Senate mentioned that the President should be impeached.”

He added: “So if the papers said that somebody said that the President should be impeached, it is out of ignorance. I am very proud to be a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, representing Edo South senatorial district.

“As the Chairman, Senate Committee on Public Accounts, all revenues and expenditure fall on my table. So, this is part of it. So, they (critics) should be proud that this is what it is. The Constitution is above every person. So, we have not reached the point of impeachment.”

He noted further that it would be ignorant and stupid of him to call for President Buhari's impeachment outright without following due process.

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“That was why the Senate President said that we should refer it to the judiciary, so that it would advise on what to do. So, an impeachment is not the first thing; if I come and even say that the President should be impeached, I am ignorant.

“Section 143 is a very long section. So, if you look at the processes, you will know that it will take a lot of actions. So, if I moved a motion that the President should be impeached, then I must be stupid.

“I only said, ‘Invoke Section 143’ so that processes will be followed; the President will still explain and the National Assembly will still have do some enquiries,” Senator Urhoghide added.

Legit.ng had reported that some senators on Thursday, April 26, called for the impeachment of President Muhammadu Buhari’s for not seeking National Assembly approval before the withdrawal of the $496 million used for the purchase of aircraft from the United States.

Senator Matthew Uroghide moved the motion, claiming that President Buhari’s move was a violation of the constitution and thus, he should face the consequences.

He urged the Senate to invoke Section 143 to start the impeachment process of the president.

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Source: Legit.ng