..Slams PDP over sanction call

By Gbenga  Ariyibi
Ado Ekiti — A member of National Assembly from Ekiti State, Dr. Ife Arowosoge, has threatened that Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, members in the National Assembly would mobilise their colleagues in the opposition camp in the Senate and House of Representatives against President Goodluck Jonathan if he (Jonathan) fails to rescind the suspension order slammed on the former President, Court of Appeal, Justice Ayo Salami.

Arowosoge, who is representing Ekiti South West/Ikere and Ise Orun Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, further declared that the opposition members in the upper and lower chambers of the National Assembly might decide to boycott proceeding in the National Assembly until the president recalls Justice Salami

Arowosoge who was speaking with newsmen in Ado Ekiti, yesterday, maintained that the procedure for suspending Justice Salami from the office was faulty.

His words: “Though we are yet to resume from the break, but we have been talking, and we are going to take serious action because the action of the President is unconstitutional. It has no basis at all. He swore to an oath and he promised to uphold the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which he has already breached by doing what he was not empowered to do.

“The President has eroded the confidence Nigerians built on him during his election. People think that he is a God-fearing man by not seriously influencing the INEC and by allowing Prof. Attahiru Jega to have his way. Having got to office now he is using that to victimize people. This is an executive oppression.”

The lawmaker who is also a lawyer explained that Salami was being punished over his role in the case of Sokoto governorship election, for standing and protecting the rule of law

The ACN lawmaker said the NJC had no power to remove or suspend the President of the Court of Appeal, saying Section 292 of the constitution did not empower it. He said NJC only has power to recommend, while the National Assembly will pass the resolution for removal if he is found guilty

He specifically condemned the President for hurriedly approving the recommendation of eight out of the 38 members of the NJC, stressing that the decision of the President and that of the panel cannot stand the test of time since it did not follow due process

..Slams PDP over sanction call

LAGOS — The Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, has described as ill-informed and grossly misplaced the call by the PDP that the party (ACN) be sanctioned by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, saying if any party should be sanctioned, that party is the PDP.

In a statement in Lagos, yesterday, by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said calling for the sanctioning of the ACN because the Lagos State government created local councils and the Ekiti Government dissolved local councils showed the ignorance of those making such a call.

It said: ‘’Those actions by the state governments in questions were taken in conformity with the law. They were not taken by the ACN as a party. And since the power of INEC does not extend to actions taken by governments, the PDP’s call is futile and very embarrassing for a ruling party.”

ACN wondered why the PDP should be hiding behind INEC to give vent to whatever grievance it might have, saying the right thing to do by any aggrieved party is to go to court rather than engage in self help.

The party said if any party should be sanctioned or even de-registered, it should be the PDP, which had metamorphosed from a political party to a ‘nest of killers’, and a party which does not believe in its own laws, as shown by its repudiation of its own zoning pact.

The statement said: “But the most compelling reason for the PDP to be sanctioned or de-registered is the fact that it has driven millions of Nigerians deeper into poverty since 1999, when it has been ruling the country, and spent billions of naira in buying darkness.

“We will also like to remind Nigerians that the PDP institutionalized thuggery, corruption and rigging in our electoral system. That explains why 50 per cent of the elections purportedly won by the PDP across the country in the 2007 elections were nullified by the courts.”

ACN challenged the PDP to commission an independent opinion poll among Nigerians on which parties deserved to be sanctioned by INEC, for whatever reason.

It said: “We have no scintilla of doubt that if such a poll were to be carried out, the PDP will rank as the top party to be sanctioned, indeed de-registered, by INEC. That such a party will be the one calling for another to be sanctioned is a cruel irony.”