Gowon Asks N’Assembly Not to Impeach Buhari
Former military Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon (rtd) has called on the National Assembly to stop the impeachment process against President Muhammadu Buhari over his $496 million for the purchase of 12 Super Tucano aircraft from the United States Government, without the approval of the legislature.
He warned that the impeachment of the president over an issue that could be resolved within the democratic process would not augur well for the nation’s fledgling democracy.
Gowon said this when he received members of the Northern Leaders and Stakeholders’ Assembly (NLSA) at the Gowon Centre in Abuja yesterday.
He was of the view that disagreements between the various arms of government remain vital components of a democracy, noting that such disagreements could be handled differently without necessarily taking the impeachment option.
According to him, “It may be too early in the day to start impeaching the president in Nigeria, otherwise, there is no president that will not get impeached because of these interest groups.”
On the coterie of numerous socio- cultural/ political groups representing the interest of Northern Nigeria, Gowon also called on the different groups to come together to project a common front, adding that too many groups could send the wrong signal to other parts of the country.
“We need to come together as a people. The Arewa Consultative Forum, Northern Elders’ Forum and the Northern Leaders and Stakeholders’ Assembly should come together, or we would end up polarising the North.”
Chairman of the group and former presidential adviser, Alhaji Tanko Yakassai said that the group was committed to sustainable peace and the harmonious co-existence of all ethnic nationalities in the country.
He said that members of the group were free to belong to any political party of their choice, adding that the NLSA had constituted six sub-committees on national unity, security and restructuring, among others.
He said that it would soon hold a Northern political summit to deliberate on the democratic future of the nation.
Yakassai said that the group was not constituted to search for a consensus presidential candidate from the North, contrary to some media reports, stressing that NLSA’s primary motivation was the promotion of unity and the well being of Nigerians through the evolution of a national blueprint to address the challenges of the nation.
Members of the NLSA delegation during visit included the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Ghali Umar Na’aba, ex- Deputy Senate President, Ibrahim Mantu, Senator Joseph Waku, erstwhile Federal Capital Territory Minister, Mohammed Abba Gana, and a former Minister of Women Affairs, Hajiya Maryam Inna Ciroma, among others.