Prof Soyinka, Falana Endorse Buhari’s Impeachment Threat
Nobel Laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka and a human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, yesterday, supported the move by National Assembly members to impeach President Muhammadu Buhari.
Nexus News recalls that members of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had, last week, given President Buhari a six-week ultimatum to end insecurity or face impeachment.
The Guardian reports that Soyinka and Falana spoke on Tuesday in an interactive session organized to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Abeokuta Club in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital.
Soyinka moderated the interactive session which was themed ‘Good Governance or Mis-governance: The Contract called Democracy.’
Others in attendance as panellists included Falana, Registrar of the Joint Administration and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Ishaq Oloyede; a lawyer and chartered accountant, Gbenga Adeoye; a businessman, Ogo-Oluwa Bankole and the spokesman of electricity distribution firms, Sunday Oduntan.
Soyinka further argued Buhari should be impeached because he had breached the pact of democracy.
According to Soyinka: “A democracy indicates a contract, that is why the candidate puts on a manifesto and on the basis of that manifesto, they are either accepted or rejected.
“Very often, the grounds for breach of contract, I think we all agree, is mis-governance and one of the ways of breaking this kind of contract we know even before the duration of a contract, is known as impeachment.”
“I am a moderator here today, If I want to go to the toilet and I will be away for a few minutes and I want to appoint somebody in my place, I am likely to look for somebody who moderates like I do, someone who shares principles with my moderation, the same methodology and perhaps the same position, somebody whom I believe will moderate effectively as I have tried to do.
“In any democracy, any president or whatever is entitled to one vote. We are not saying we should disenfranchise any one because they are on top of governance. They have their right to campaign for any candidate but there is nothing in any constitution that I know of in any democratic constitution, which says the head of government should appoint his or her successor. And this is a head of governance who is generally agreed, as having failed, having mis-governed to the point that impeachment is being considered.”
Falana, while corroborating Soyinka’s argument, added that there is need to stop abuse of democratic process.
Furthermore, Oloyede called on Nigerians not to concentrate on the weaknesses of the Federal Government but focus on the state governments’ involvement in the failure.
