The United States of America branch of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO USA) has issued a statement demanding that Senate President Senator Godswill Akpabio step down from his position.
They cited his perceived inadequate management of the upper legislative chamber as the reason for this call.
The organization, represented by its Executive Director Lloyd Ukwu, further urged fellow Senators to initiate impeachment proceedings against Akpabio.
They accuse him of diminishing the standing of the upper chamber, making it a subject of mockery, and undermining the independence of his colleagues in relation to the executive branch of government.
NADECO USA accused Akpabio of showing “absolute disdain for the Standing Rules of the Senate,” “keeping communications from the President which are supposed to be read during announcement time till the end of plenary,” and “not giving Senators adequate opportunity to interrogate and scrutinise bills.”
The group also criticised Akpabio for his “lack of empathy for poor and suffering Nigerian masses,” citing his recent response to a Senator’s comment about Nigerians needing to breathe.
NADECO USA accused Akpabio of amending the Senate Standing Rules to disqualify first-term Senators from vying for the position of presiding officer, a move which the group said “clearly violates relevant sections of the constitution.”
The group said Akpabio was “not fit to be Senate President of Nigeria at this material time” and that it would mobilise Nigerians in the US and diaspora for mass action to ensure his removal from office if he fails to resign or is not impeached by Senators.
NADECO USA also threatened to lobby the US parliament and other parliaments across the world to prevent them from considering the Nigerian Senate under Akpabio as a “serious and responsible institution.”
The group said that Akpabio had “converted the National Assembly into an annexe of the Presidential Villa” and that he had “connived with the executive to approve loans and other adverse requests without following due process or allowing Senators to make germane input through robust debate adequately.” NADECO USA said only recently, the Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume (APC – Borno South) and Senator Mohammed Ogoshi Onawo (SDP – Nasarawa South) openly accused Akpabio of not giving Senators adequate opportunity to interrogate and scrutinise bills, especially money bills, and warned that history would judge him for approving executive requests and passing important legislations posthaste.