Former military Head of State General Yakubu Gowon (rtd) has warned that impeaching President Muhammadu Buhari would not be in the interest of Nigeria.
Gowon, who addressed the Northern Leaders and Stakeholders Assembly in Abuja yesterday, said it’s too early for Nigeria to start impeaching democratically-elected presidents.
The former Head of State’s warning is coming at a time that some federal lawmakers are canvassing the impeachment of President Muhammadu Buhari over the purchase of $496 million Tucano aircraft from the United States.
Urging unity among the diverse ethnic, religious and socio-economic groups, particularly in the North, Gowon said impeaching any president at this point in the nation’s history would not serve any useful purpose.
Gowon said, “It will be too early in the day to start impeaching presidents in Nigeria, otherwise, there will be no president that will not get impeached because of these interest groups.
“We need to come together as a people – Arewa Consultative Forum, Northern Elders Forum and this forum. The three must come together or else, we will end up dividing our interests thereby polarising the North.
“So it is a question of unity of the people in the North which is very important. The interest of the North is the interest of the nation”.
Chairman of the Northern Leaders and Stakeholders Assembly, Alhaji Tanko Yakasai, said his group had constituted sub committees on North’s unity, elections, security and restructuring.
Yakasai added that his group painstakingly study the reports of its various sub committees, with the view to taking the necessary actions that would engender peace and unity among the various political stakeholders in the region.
According to him, the main objective of the group was to bring together Northerners of good standing for the purpose of arresting drifts in the region.
He also spoke on the urgent need for the various stakeholders to strive to rebuild confidence among the people of the North, irrespective of differences in ethnic and religious backgrounds.
A former Minister of Defence, Dr. Bello Haliru Mohammed, assured that the group would do all that is required to ensure unity of purpose among the diverse groups in the region.
Others at the meeting were a former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mohammed Abba Gana; a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Umar Ghali Na’Aba; two former senators -Joseph Waku and Paul Wampana
Others are a former Deputy President of the Senste, Ibrahim Mantu; two former Women Affairs Minister, Maryam Ciroma and Zainab Maina.
