Update : Buhari fears as Senate thre@tens Impeachment [Full Details]

Nigerian senators commenced Wednesday’s plenary with an executive session.

Details of the closed-door meeting, which lasted over two hours, were not immediately disclosed.

At the end of the meeting, the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, simply said the lawmakers discussed issues affecting the workings of the Senate in particular and the National Assembly in general.

The Minority Leader, Philip Aduda, however, disclosed during plenary that they had discussed the state of insecurity in the country and a possible notice of impeachment to President Muhammadu Buhari.

His revelation led to the drama that followed; with opposition senators walking out of the Senate chamber.

After his motion was dismissed by Mr Lawan, Mr Aduda and other opposition lawmakers walked out of the chamber in anger.

Addressing journalists afterwards, the lawmakers expressed their anger that Mr Lawan did not allow them to discuss the insecurity across the country, a matter that was deliberated upon extensively in the closed session.

Mr Aduda disclosed that they have given the president a six-weeks ultimatum else he would be “shown the way out.”

We agreed at the closed session that we should discuss the issue of insecurity in the country but the President of the Senate frustrated our efforts to discuss it at plenary, he said.

The minority caucus, he explained, noted at the executive session that the many resolutions passed on insecurity should be implemented.

“At the closed session, we agreed that we must give the president an ultimatum that if he failed to comply with our resolutions on how to tackle insecurity within six months, we would move an impeachment proceeding against him.

“We expected the senate president to brief the public on what we discussed at the closed session but he did not. He also ruled out our point of order to discuss it.”

This would be the first time talk of impeachment of President Buhari will come up in the ninth Senate.

Although the lawmakers have repeatedly lamented the insecurity in the country and have, on several occasions, called for more action from the federal government, there has been no impeachment move.

It was learnt that many lawmakers, including APC lawmakers, are aggrieved, scared and worried over the recent attacks and threats in the country – especially in the Federal Capital Territory.

However, an impeachment of the president would require the support of a two-thirds majority of the senators, as part of the process. That would be difficult even if all the opposition lawmakers support the move as the ruling party, APC, controls more than half of the 109 Senate seats in the country.