By Emmanuel Aziken
Abuja — Ms. Temi Harriman, immediate past member of the House of Representatives, has called on the National Assembly to immediately remove President Umaru Yar’Adua from office to avoid a breakdown of constitutional government.
Harriman, in a statement made available to reporters in Abuja yesterday, affirmed that the removal of the president was the only option available as she noted that the president and the executive council have failed to take the only other available options.

Describing President Yar’Adua’s travel for medical treatment without informing the National Assembly as a transgression, she said, “this deliberate transgression by the president has cost the nation much economically, politically and diplomatically.

“It is thus not strange to say that the nation’s hard earned democracy is at the precipice.
“Regrettably, members of the executive council have failed in their patriotic duty of informing the nation and the National Assembly specifically of the infirmity of the president.

False impression

“Rather, what the nation has seen is the spin doctors of the presidential villa overreaching themselves to give the false impression of stability.

“It is in this light that I join all well meaning Nigerians to call on the National Assembly to immediately take action to redress the situation using constitutional means.

“The elected members of the National Assembly are primary stakeholders who have the most to lose from the breakdown of constitutional government. The nation’s future is at risk and the National Assembly must act now and remove the president as he and his handlers have left the majority of Nigerians with no other option,” she said.