Impeachment: Jonathan intervenes, meets Nasarawa lawmakers

President Goodluck Jonathan on Thursday met behind closed-doors with six members of the Nasarawa State House of Assembly.

The meeting was believed to be the President’s way of intervening in the impeachment process that the lawmakers had instituted against the state Governor, Tanko Al-Makura.

Al-Makura had met with the President over the weekend in his bid to stop his removal from office.

The members of the assembly who met with Jonathan on Thursday were led by their Speaker, Musa Muhammed.

The Deputy National Chairman, South, of the Peoples Democratic Party, Uche Secondus, also joined in the meeting.

The National Chairman, Adamu Muazu, is currently on lesser Hajj in Saudi Arabia.

Muhammed, however, told State House correspondents at the end of the parley that the meeting was a private one.

When pressed further to disclose whether the meeting had changed the situation in the state, the Speaker said he did not have the mandate of the assembly to speak with journalists.

He said only the Chairman of the House Committee on Information was mandated to speak to journalists.

“It is a private visit. We are here to see the President on a private visit. I do not have the mandate of the assembly to address the press. We have the Chairman of the House Committee on Information who we have agreed should be talking on our behalf,” he said.

When asked whether the assembly was under pressure from the Presidency or any other quarters to drop the impeachment process, Muhammed asked, “Who is putting pressure on who?”

Secondus, who came out of the President’s office a few minutes after the lawmakers, claimed he did not come with them.

However, when further probed on what stakeholders should be expecting with the President’s intervention, he said consultation was still ongoing.

“I came in here before the members of Nasarawa House of Assembly. It is a consultation with Mr. President. I can’t tell you whatever but we are consulting,” he simply said.

PUNCH