The Nation Newspaper

Tag: resign

  • El-Rufai urges CJN Onnoghen to resign

    KADUNA State Governor Nasir el-Rufai yesterday joined the push for Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) Walter Onnoghen to step down.

    He knocked his Southsouth counterparts for backing the CJN after admitting the errors in the assets declaration forms he submitted to the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB).

    El-Rufai said it was  complimentary for  President Buhari to have had no knowledge of the CJN was being investigated by the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB).

    He said that the President’s decision not to interfere with the activities of institutions was a plus for him.

    El-Rufai, who made his views known on a Channels Television Programme, “Sunrise”, said:  ”All the arguments being made that the allegations against the CJN should first go to the National Judicial Council (NJC) are wrong.

    “I presented a paper at the Bisi Akande Colloquium on restructuring. I believe that we should look at our federation. Constitutional restructuring is one thing, restructuring our minds to be objective about what is right is another.

    “I am extremely sad about this Chief Justice matter; if I am the Chief Justice, and write and say, ‘yes I have these bank accounts but I did not declare them’, I will not even allow the CCB to file charges, I will resign there and then to protect the institution.

    “The admission that I did not declare my assets, that infraction alone, is enough for him to step down and protect the institution. All these court orders and lawyers are not helping the judiciary or the legal practice and are not helping Nigeria.”

    The governor said it was not obligatory for the President to know about the prosecution of any Nigerian, including the CJN.

    He said: “Why should the President know about the prosecution of anyone? Let us please stop personalising institutions. Won’t you be worried if the President is worried about prosecution? Institutions should be allowed to function.

    “I am the governor of Kaduna State. The constitution requires that I declare my assets before being sworn in. Also, the constitution states this specifically, in plain language. This is not law; we don’t need law to tell us this.

    “I don’t have to know if the Attorney-General of Kaduna State goes and murder or rape someone, and the police arrest him; I don’t need to know. They should charge him to court. Institutions should be allowed to work, and we should stand up to protect the integrity of institutions.

    “Saying that the President doesn’t know, I think it is a compliment to the president; it shows that he does not interfere with institutions and doesn’t get involved in it.

    “What is right is right, and what is wrong is wrong; I think we should stand up for that, we should seize being ethnic and religious, otherwise this country will not go anywhere.

    ”The man has admitted that ‘I did not declare my asset, I forgot’. If the matter was simply that the Code of Conduct Bureau has made an allegation and filed charges in the tribunal, I will presume innocence, but I have seen a written statement by the Chief Justice saying that ‘…yes I have these accounts, yes I did not declare them, but I forgot’. Forgetting is not a defence in law.

    “The constitution is very clear; if the matter has to do with Code of Conduct of public officers, the only court, the only tribunal vested with the power to consider the violations of that code is the Code of Conduct Tribunal. It can try anyone, including the President.

    “The NJC is supposed to take petitions on the professional misconduct of Judges; if a Judge kills or steals, it is not NJC, it is the regular court. You cannot say the NJC is a self-appointed court, a special court that will first have to clear judges before they go to regular court.

    ”It is saying that Judges have immunity that the constitution has not contemplated. It is only the President and the governors that have immunity in the constitution.

    “For me, that is not even the issue, the issue is this, the Code of Conduct for public office requires you to declare your assets – all of us, have you declared your assets? Yes! Have you declared all your assets? No, I have not! The Chief Justice has admitted it; his defence is ‘I have forgotten’, that is not a defence in law.”

    Faulting the Southsouth governors for backing the CJN on ethnic basis without addressing the issue at hand, the Kaduna governor said: “What is worrying for me is that – one, all of a sudden we have no regard for institution; political parties are getting involved in issuing statements.

    “My colleagues – governors that ought to know better are issuing statements based on where the Chief Justice came from. That is wrong. That is sad.

    “Leaders should advance the course of institutions and unite us. You cannot say that he is my kin, so he should be let go. This is the attitude in Nigeria that has the capacity to destroy the country. If Babachir Lawal, as SGF, was being investigated, and all the facts about his conducts, and Northeast governors met and issued a statement that yes he has done that but he is from Northeast and should be left to go, where will Nigeria be?

    “If we continue to apply these standards, what if Southwest governors met, and said, well ex-minister Kemi Adeosun made a mistake and presented a fake certificate, but she is from Southwest, so, she is immune from being asked to resign, what will Nigeria be like?

    “My concern is that Nigeria elites should have a consensus about the sanctity of institutions. We should all protect our institutions, even when they seem to be against us.”

    The governor said it was wrong to claim that the NJC ought to have looked into the allegations against the CJN before arraign him at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT).

    He added: “They are wrong. I think again, depending on which side you want to be, Nigerians can be morally flexible.  The constitution is clear – as far as the violation of the code of conduct of a public office is concerned, the only institution allowed to investigate violations in the Code of Conduct Bureau, the only institution allowed exclusively is the Code of Conduct Tribunal.

    Read also: I always feared I might not live long, says Akande

    “The case they are referring to is the case of judicial misconduct; it is the case of a judge that violated the code of conduct of judges and was taken to court because the disciplinary committee of judges is vested by the same constitution of the NJC.

    “So, if a judge engages in judicial misconduct, in the course of his duty as a judge, you should first send him to NJC because it is easier for Judges to determine if his conduct is above or below the standard before referring him to a regular court.”

    Also yesterday, a Federal High Court in Abuja restated its order restraining the Attornery-General of the Federation (AGF), the CCT and some others from proceeding with the planned arraignment of Justice Onnoghen.

    Justice Evelyn Maha restated the order at the resumed hearing of the suits brought by two groups, who are challenging the propriety of the charge brought against the CJN before the CCT by the CCB.

    The first suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/27/2019 was filed by the Incorporated ‎Trustees of the Centre for Justice and Peace Initiative (CJPI), while the second, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/28/2019 was by the Incorporated ‎Trustees of the International Association of Students Economists and Management (IASEM).

    Listed as defendants, in the first suit, are: the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), CCT Chairman, the NJC, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) and President of the Senate.

    The second suit has, as defendants, the AGF, the CCT Chair, the CCT, the CCB, the Chairman of CCB and the IGP.

    When the first case was called yesterday, plaintiff’s lawyer, Rafiu Lawal-Rabana (SAN) said the court had, at the last proceedings on January 14, 2019, adjourned to January 17 for hearing of the plaintiff’s motion on notice.

    Lawal-Rabana said all the defendants have been served with the processes filed by the plaintiff and the enrolled order of the court’s ex-parte ruling of January 14, 2019. He said it was only the Senate President that has not been served.

    Lawal-Rabana sought a short adjournment to enable the plaintiff serve the Senate President as required.

    Lawyer to the 4th defendant, NJC, Garba Tetengi (SAN) said his client was served.

    Tetengi, who represented the only defendant that turned up in court on Thursday, said he would not object to the request for a short adjournment.

    Ruling, Justice Maha ordered proper service of the court processes on the defendants.

    Justice Maha adjourned the second case to January 28.

     

  • Buhari did not ask CJN to resign, says Ojudu

    The Special Adviser to the President on Politics, Senator  Babafemi Ojudu, said last night that President Muhammadu Buhari did not ask  the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, to resign.

    Ojudu made the clarification in a comment posted on CACOL WhatsApp group.

    It was the first reaction by a government official to the controversy generated by the filing of charges against Justice Onnoghen.

    He said: “Buhari never at any time demanded CJ’s resignation. I challenge anyone who says so to cite the pronouncement, the press statement or quote any public official who made such announcement.”

    The Nation also learnt last night that the Presidency was not in support of the planned trial of Justice Onnoghen  for alleged failure to declare his assets.

    Buhari, according to well-placed Presidency sources, was shocked about the development.

    Sources said the planned trial may have been hatched by 5th columnists in the corridors of power to embarrass the Presidency and create misunderstanding between the judiciary and the FG.

    Speaking on conditions of anonymity last night official government sources explained that the only impact such an action would generate at this time is distasteful.

    “Let me tell you point blank Mr. President is not aware and was shocked at the development. It is not going to fly,” a top government official said.

    Another official said: “whatever may be the merits of the case being put against the CJN, it is not advisable at this time. So it is not about the rightness of the planned action.”

    Asked whether the trial would go ahead, the source said: “what is certain right now is that this came as a shock to the Presidency and does not enjoy approval of any kind. You can figure out the rest.”

    When contacted last night over the matter, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said that he had not been briefed on the matter.

    “I have not been briefed on it,” was all he said.

  • APGA stakeholders to party chair: refund our monies, resign

    AGGRIEVED stakeholders of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA)  have staged a protest, demanding the resignation of the party’s National Chairman, Dr Victor Oye, over the recent conduct of party’s recent primaries. The protesters under the aegis “APGA Aggrieved Aspirants Forum” in Anambra State numbering over 400 ,also demanded a refund of the money they paid for nomination and expression of interest forms for peace to reign. Speaking with reporters after the protest which took place at the Southeast office of the party, their spokesman, Onyeka Mbaso, said they were not abandoning APGA for foreign invaders.

    Mbanaso, an aspirant for Ekwusigo-Nnewi South and Nnewi North Federal Constituency ,said the National Working Committee, NWC of the party headed by it’s National chairman ,Oye committed fraud in Anambra State and beyond He said the party primary elections for national and state houses of assembly conducted in Anambra State which gave birth to over 450 aggrieved aspirants’ forum was entirely faulty.

    “The party knows that nothing was done. So, if it is talking about reconciliation, the first thing to do is to compile names of all the aspirants and send their money, which is  over one billion naira to them. But the National Chairman, recently, while briefing reporters, said the allegations against him were unsubstantiated and hold no water.  He said he never collected money from anybody, adding that the party had guidelines which were strictly followed during the primaries

  • ‘Resign your appointments now’

    A youth group in the Ogun State All Progressives Congress (APC), APC Progressives Youth, has called on commissioners and other appointees serving in the APC administration but whose names appeared as officers of the Akinlade Governorship Campaign Organisation of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), and contestants in APM to resign their appointments.

    Read also: Amosun: I’ll give my all to make Akinlade win in Ogun

    A statement in Abeokuta yesterday by its Chairman, Comrade Damilare Fagbohun, said it was “disgustingly treacherous, fraudulent and horrendous for people appointed into privileged positions on the basis of being members of the APC, to cross to another party and still hope to retain their positions in the APC administration.”

    The statement reads: “It has become pertinent to call on commissioners, Special Advisers, Chairmen of Statutory Commissions and other state government appointees, whose names have appeared either as members of the governorship campaign of the APM, its officers or candidates to resign forthwith.

    “Though we know that these appointees were coerced by the governor in his desperation to achieve his bid to force a successor on the people, we urge the appointees to save whatever is left of their honour and family names by resigning their current appointments which they got on the platter of being APC members and as beneficiaries of APC electoral victory of 2015.”

  • Defection: Ogun APC lawmakers urge Majority Leader to resign

    In less than 40 minutes after Ogun State House of Assembly Majority Leader Yinka Mafe defected from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), the Assembly urged him to resign from his position.

    Mafe, representing Sagamu I Constituency; Chief Whip Idowu Olowofuja, as well as Tunde Sanusi, a member from Obafemi Owode Constituency and Ganiyu Oyedeji defected to APM after announcing their defection during plenary.

    Deputy Speaker Kunle Oluomo moved the motion for Mafe to follow due process and resign from his office, having left the party that elected him to the Assembly.

    Oluomo said Mafe was at liberty to move to another party of his choice, adding that since the rule of the Assembly states that a Majority Leader must come from majority party, he can’t safely keep the office while in his new party (APM).

    The Deputy Speaker, who spoke with The Nation on the development, said APC members were still in the majority.

    He noted that if the defected Majority Leader lawmaker failed to honourably resign, APC members in the Assembly would meet, write Speaker Suraj and appoint a new Majority Leader.

     

     

     

     

  • Factional Kwara APC executives resign

    Ten members of the dissolved Ishola Balogun-Fulani-led executives of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara State have resigned their appointments.

    The National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC had dissolved the faction after members defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and set up a caretaker committee headed by Bashir Bolarinwa.

    But a State High Court ruled that the Balogun-Fulani-led executive is the one recognised by law.

    Leading the pack are former State Women Leader Ramat Oganija and Publicity Secretary Buhari Sulyman. Others are Mohammed Halliru (Asst. Welfare Secretary); Isiaka oniwa (North

    Senatorial Chairman); Jimoh Adesina (Central Senatorial Chairman); Katum Mohammed (Organizing Secretary); Ramat Ibrahim (Financial Secretary); Jinatu ibrahim (North Women Leader); Atiku Abdurahman (North Senatorial Chairman) and Sunkanmi Ereoye (South Senatorial Youth Leader).

    Buhari said there was no reward system in the party “we toiled to build from the scratch”.

    His resignation letter reads: “I wish to notify you of my resignation from the position of the publicity secretary of the APC in Kwara State. I have also resigned my membership of the party with immediate effect.

    “My resignation is based on litany of issues, chief among which is that the national leadership, through its actions, has continued to directly fuel crises in the state at the detriment of those of us who toiled day and night for years to ensure the ultimate victory of the APC at the polls.”

  • Saraki should resign as a matter of honour, says Sagay

    •‘Buhari’s enemies want Adeosun out’

    SENATE President Bukola Saraki should step down as a matter of honour,  Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) Chairman Itse Sagay (SAN) said yesterday.

    According to him, it will require two-thirds majority of available Senators to unseat Saraki.

    Prof. Sagay, however, emphasised that the Senate President’s defection from the All Progressives Congress (APC), the platform on which he was elected, to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), does not invalidate his position.

    He spoke in Abuja on the sidelines of a workshop on the United Kingdom Unexplained Wealth Order (UWO), organised by PACAC, UK National Crime Agency and the Department for International Development (DfID).

    On whether Saraki was bound to resign, Sagay said: “He should relinquish his position as a matter of honour. He’s not compelled by law to do so. He needs to be removed by two-thirds majority.

    “He got there because he was in APC, even though he got there by subterfuge, which is typical of him. He got there in a cheeky, fraudulent manner.

    “Nevertheless, for him to be removed, they need two-thirds, not of the Senate, but of those present and voting at a meeting.

    “It doesn’t have to be everybody. It’s those who happen to be there. Once they meet the quorum of one-third, and he is there, he can be removed by two-thirds of that one-third.”

    Sagay faulted the freezing of Benue State’s account by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), describing it as “extreme”.

    He said while EFCC could investigate governors, they cannot be prosecuted since they have immunity.

    “There’s nothing EFCC can do to him (Governor Samuel Ortom). They can’t arrest him. They can investigate him, put down the records of what they found, and wait for his tenure to end. Right now, nobody can touch him.

    “As for freezing Benue State’s account, I can’t support it. I don’t know why, but government has to function. I don’t want people to suffer because there are no funds for basic government functions.

    “I don’t know if EFCC really did that; we have to be careful because it looks extreme to me,” Sagay said.

    The eminent professor of law rejected calls for President Muhammadu Buhari to sack Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun over the allegation that she skipped the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme and forged an exemption certificate.

    Asked what he thought about the government’s refusal to react to the issue, Sagay said: “I don’t know why the government has not reacted.

    “But, let me tell you my reaction. This woman is a brilliant and extremely valuable member of this government.

    “A lot of the good things happening now – the welfare that Nigerians are enjoying and are going to enjoy, because it takes time, and the way our economy is booming, how we got out of recession – are due to her expertise, her commitment, her sacrifice.

    “There is nothing in this world that will make me remove such a woman from the government. The PDP can weep from now until there is no tear in their body; she is going to be there. We cannot afford to lose that woman.”

    Asked if it was not an offence to skip NYSC, Sagay said: “Who cares about youth service? I don’t bloody care whether she did youth service or not. It’s irrelevant as far as I am concerned.”

    On the allegation that she forged an exemption certificate, the PACAC chairman said: “I don’t believe it. I don’t see anything serious about not doing youth service. I don’t see anything serious about it. That’s my own bias, not government’s.

    “I’m telling you now. If you ask me – If I were President Buhari, I would never, ever touch that woman because she’s damn good.

    “The enemies of this government want to reduce his capacity to provide good governance by engaging in social media attacks and trying to get rid of her. It will not work.”

  • ANC pushes for Zuma’s resignation

    ANC pushes for Zuma’s resignation

    South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) confirmed yesterday it had decided to sack President Jacob Zuma, but said leading members had agreed on when he should go.

    The ANC’s Secretary-General, Ace Magashule, said the decision to recall Zuma – party-speak for ‘remove from office’ – was taken after “exhaustive discussions”.

    The rand turned weaker after the ANC said it had not given Zuma a deadline to resign, softening 0.2 per cent to a session low of 11.9450 at 12:18 GMT from 11.8800 before Magashule’s news conference.

    The decision by the ANC’s national executive followed 13 hours of tense deliberations and one, short face-to-face exchange between Zuma and his presumed successor, Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa.

    Zuma, a polygamous Zulu traditionalist, has been living on borrowed time since Ramaphosa, a union leader and lawyer, once tipped as Mandela’s pick to take over the reins, was elected as head of the 106-year-old ANC in December.

    Ramaphosa narrowly defeated Zuma’s ex-wife and preferred successor, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, in the leadership vote, forcing him to tread carefully in handling Zuma for fear of deepening rifts in the party a year ahead of an election.

    In spite of the damning decision to order Zuma’s “recall” – ANC-speak for ‘remove from office’ – domestic media say the 75-year-old might yet defy the party’s wishes, forcing it into the indignity of having to unseat him in parliament.

    Shortly before midnight, the SABC state broadcaster said Zuma had been told in person by Ramaphosa that he had 48 hours to resign.

    A senior party source later told Reuters Zuma made it clear he was going nowhere.

    “Cyril went to speak with him; the discussions were “tense and difficult” when Ramaphosa returned to the ANC meeting in a hotel near Pretoria.

    “We decided to recall Zuma,” the source said.

    Read Also: Zuma asked to resign as South African President

    Another party source said ANC Secretary-General and Zuma loyalist Ace Magashule had gone to see Zuma on Tuesday morning to tell him formally of the party’s decision.

    The ANC is due to hold a news conference in the afternoon to reveal its version of events.

    One domestic report said Zuma asked for three months to resign, a request that was denied. Another report said Zuma simply told Ramaphosa: “Do what you want to do”.

    Zuma’s spokesman did not answer his calls. His son, Edward, said he would not comment until after the ANC had made its formal pronouncement.

    On Friday, one of his wives, Tobeka Madiba-Zuma, posted comments on Instagram suggesting Zuma, who has challenged and defied multiple attempts by the ANC and courts to rein him in, was prepared to go down fighting.

    The post even suggested Zuma believed he was the victim of a Western conspiracy.

    “He will finish what he started because he does not take orders beyond the Atlantic Ocean,” she said.

    South Africa’s economy, the most sophisticated on the continent, has stagnated during Zuma’s nine-year tenure, with banks and mining companies reluctant to invest because of policy uncertainty and rampant corruption.

    However, since mid-November when Ramaphosa emerged as a real ANC leadership prospect, economic confidence has started to pick up, while the rand – a telling barometer of Zuma’s fortunes – has gained more than 15 per cent against the dollar.

    The ANC’s decisive overnight move against Zuma, after nearly two weeks of deliberations, mirrors the fate that he himself meted to then-President Thabo Mbeki in 2008, after being elected to the helm of the party.

    The removal of Zuma, an anti-apartheid activist who spent 10 years with Mandela in the notorious Robben Island prison camp, also echoes generational changes in the anti-colonial liberation movements in charge of southern Africa.

    In August, Jose Eduardo dos Santos stepped down after 38 years as president of oil-rich Angola and three months later, Zimbabwe’s military unseated 93-year-old Robert Mugabe, the only leader the country had known since independence in 1980.

    Although Zuma retains a core of faithful inside the ANC and in the rural heartlands of his native KwaZulu-Natal province, there will be few tears shed in South Africa’s urban centers, where many regard him with contempt.

    “He’s a goner,” the Sowetan, a tabloid popular with urban black South Africans, said in a front-page headline above a picture of Zuma sitting with his head held in his hand.

    Central to the public anger have been the persistent allegations – now the focus of a judicial commission – that Zuma let his friends, the Guptas, use their relationship with him to win state contracts and even influence cabinet appointments.

  • Amaechi to Wike: protect Rivers people or resign

    Amaechi to Wike: protect Rivers people or resign

    The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has asked Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to protect the people or resign.

    He said the people would no longer tolerate Wike’s inability and/or refusal to protect them.

    Amaechi, a chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC), who is also the director-general of Buhari/Osinbajo Re-election Campaign Organisation, said the people already had enough of insecurity and bloodbath.

    The minister, yesterday in a statement  on New Year’s Day massacre in Omoku and insecurity in Rivers, said he was sad over the incident.

    He said: “In the last few years, we have suffered and endured a debilitating state of insecurity in Rivers State. Many lives have been cut short, while many have been maimed. Hopes and dreams have been dashed, families distraught and destroyed. Murderous cults and rival gangs reign supreme. Our once peaceful state has lost its serenity and lustre. We are now been derisively referred to as ‘Rivers of Blood.’

    “However, the killings in Omoku in the first few hours of this new year and the uninspiring, inept, blame-game response of a government that swore to an oath to protect every Rivers man and woman, should compel us to action and scream that we have had enough of insecurity and bloodbath.”

     

     

  • Buhari won’t resign, says Presidency

    Buhari won’t resign, says Presidency

    President Muhammadu Buhari will not resign from office, The Presidency said yesterday.

    It was in response to a call by some civil society organisations that the President should resign or return to work.

    President Buhari has been in the United Kingdom since May 7 for a follow-up appointment with his doctors.

    Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu told reporters at the State House that the President had not breached any law.

    He said: “They are exercising their rights in line with the constitution of this country. Of what use or value is a democracy in which citizens cannot embark on peaceful protests? So we respect their right to convene or undertake peaceful protest.

    “On the second issue, whether the President should resign or disclose or whatever, I think they are stepping outside the laws of this country.

    “Anyone conversant with the constitution of this country will have noticed or seen that Mr President has complied 100 per cent with the requirements of the constitution..

    “He has handed over power to the Vice President, relying on the constitution and the Vice President is carrying on with the affairs of this country; he is undertaking activities of government in line with the constitution in a way that the President himself has given words of commendation.

    “So the President has not breached any law. What he has done is perfectly in line with the constitution of this country and people are looking for things to say. I think they should do their research very well.”

    In a statement later, Shehu added: “I wish to respond to media enquiries following demonstration by a few citizens this morning in Abuja. The demonstration is in the exercise of their freedom under the constitution, which guarantees their right to embark on peaceful protests.

    “There is nothing like a power vacuum in the country, given the competence and general harmony with which the whole government is running.

    “Any such calls as being made by this or any other group represents an irrational assault on the constitution and should be ignored by well-meaning members of the public.

    “The need of the hour for this country is to rid it of corruption, reform and reinvigorate the economy and to fight crime and insurgency.

    “The government is busy with the reconstruction and rehabilitation of infrastructure all over the country.  It is creating jobs for the unemployed.  It has set its sight on the larger picture of the country’s development; investing in rail and power projects and redeeming the country’s image from the  mountains of corruption scandals that have marred it. We will not, therefore, be distracted by this or any other groups.”

    It was learnt yesterday that the President’s wife, Hajia Aisha Buhari, left Nigeria for the United Kingdom on Sunday.

    Mrs Buhari, who returned from the UK last week, had on several occasions, insisted that her husband was recovering fast and would soon return to the country.

    Although there was no official statement on Mrs Buhari’s trip, some officials in the Presidency confirmed it.

    In Abuja, the coalition of civil society groups demanded the return of President Buhari from his medical leave  or resign.

    It also urged the National Assembly to invoke Section 144 sub Section 4 of the Constitution and set up a medical panel to determine the President’s health status.

    Convener of the protest Deji Adeyanju, expressed regret on whay he called “the failure of the National Assembly to launch an investigation or set up a panel to look into the true status of the President Buhari’s health”.

    Adeyanju said: “The leadership of the National Assembly must choose between the Nigerian people and the cabal. 90 days is too long for a president to be away from his country without any explanation to the people that voted him into office.

    “If Buhari had become incapacitated, he should do the honourable thing and resign because he cannot continue to hold the country to ransom; his absence in the country is being exploited by a cabal to loot the treasury.”

    He added: “We hereby demand that the National Assembly invoke Section 144 sub Section 4 of the Nigerian Constitution and direct the setting up of a medical panel in conjunction with the Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo to ascertain whether the President is incapacitated.”

    A leader of the group and member, Coalition in Defence of Nigerian Democracy and Constitution, Ariyo-Dare Atoye, said the Federal Executive Council should disclose to Nigerians the nature of Buhari’s illness.

    Protesters led by artiste Charles Oputa (Charlie Boy), defied the early morning showers and walked from the Unity Fountain, Maitama, Abuja to the Presidential Villa junction to demand the return of the President.

    The protest was spearheaded by the National Coordinator, Foundation For True Freedom and Good Leadership, Deji Adeyanju; Publicity Secretary, #OurMumuDonDo Movement, Adebayo Raphael; Convener, Coalition in Defence of Nigerian Democracy and Constitution, Ariyo-Dare Atoye; and Secretary of Concerned Nigerians, John Danfulani.

    The movement said it would continue with daily protests in Abuja and London to press for the return of the President.