Stop daydreaming, you can’t impeach Saraki — Onuesoke

THE National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomole, has been admonished point-blank to perish the thought that APC can impeach the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki.

A chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Delta State, Chief Sunny Onuesoke, on Thursday, made the remarks in a statement made available to TribuneOnline in Warri.

Comrade Adams had said that APC was resolved to explore every legal means to ensure that the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki is removed and replaced with a loyal party member.

But Onuesoke, a former PDP governorship aspirant in the 20007 general elections, retorted that even if all the 36 states in the country were controlled by APC, they would still not have what it takes to remove Saraki.

He, therefore, advised Oshiomole to stop meddling with what goes on at the National Assembly and concentrate on how to run his party affairs.

He stressed that it was only the Senators in the House that have the right to effect a change in the upper legislative chamber.

“Let me give you a shocker. Among the 52 APC Senators in the House, there are 22 APC members who are yet to defect to PDP.

“You can quote me anywhere. Saraki still has 22 APC members who will vote for him in any impeachment move.

“So, what are we saying? Even if Saraki decides to go and sleep till 2019, there is no figure in the house that can be used to impeach him.

“What Oshiomhole is doing today can be likened to someone who is suffering from Codeine and Tramadol overdose.

“He needs to do a background check on himself. He is being carried away with the position.

“This was how he ran the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) aground during his days as president,” the chieftain noted.

The Delta PDP chieftain added that “For crying out loud, Oshiomhole was part of the APC who promised to take back the price of fuel to 44 naira per litre.

“He is not talking about the wrongs he has done. He is busy comparing himself with Saraki. What he is doing is like comparing apples with oranges.

“Oshiomhole is just a party chairman and a private individual while Saraki is a distinguished member of the National Assembly and a public figure.

“Oshiomhole has no right to speak on behalf of those senators because they were elected by Nigerians. No matter what party they belong to, they are now senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. They are not senators of APC or PDP.”

On whether the National Assembly should reconvene and deliberate on the INEC budget, which is considered by many as a matter of urgency, Onuesoke lambasted President Muhammadu Buhari for submitting such a budget, saying the budget was over-inflated and therefore cannot be seen to be of any importance.

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“I will not call on the Senate to reconvene just to talk about that padded INEC budget. The last election was about 110 billion naira, but today, you are talking about over 242 billion naira.

“So I will not call on the Senate to reconvene because of that padded budget. That matter is not something we should lose sleep over.

“If you decide to share that money among all Nigerians, every person will get up to two million. If the house is going to reconvene, they should reconvene and share two million to all Nigerians and forget about the election,” he opined.

Onuesoke also condemned the figures released by INEC about the number of eligible voters in the country, noting that there was no way the number of eligible voters can be equal or more than the number of those that are not eligible to vote.

He said, “The number of voters INEC said they have registered is fictitious. I am doubting that figure released by INEC.

“INEC said it has registered over 72 million eligible voters in the country. Are you telling me that the age of eligible voters in the country is more than those below 18 years?

“That figure is not correct because there is nowhere in the world where the age of those above 18 is more than those below the age of 18. That figure is fabricated by INEC to suit some sections of the country. So, INEC should be probed.

“Let me give you an example. The population of Delta State is six million and you cannot tell me the population of e each eligible voters will be three million. That is not possible.

“So there is something wrong with the figures of registered voters which is said to be about 77 million according to INEC.

“We all know that according to our past population census, Nigeria has about 130 million people.”