Buhari mocks Ortom over impeachment saga, says he reaps the Whirlwinds

Buhari and Ortom

Buhari mocks Ortom over impeachment saga says, he reaps the Whirlwinds

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday dissociated himself from the attempts by  eight out of 30 members of Benue House of Assembly to impeach Governor Samuel Ortom.

In a statement by his spokesperson, Femi Adesina, Buhari mocked Ortom, alluding to the proverb that he who sows the winds will reap the Whirlwinds.

He said Ortom stoked fires by his actions and inactions and then wanted to drag the president into the controversy at the state level.

“When it suits them, they preach separation of powers and true federalism, and in another breath, they call on the President to interfere brazenly in affairs at state level…

“People who stoke fires by deliberate acts of omission or commission, and then summon the President to come and put it out will find that this President will be guided by the Constitution at all times, no matter the attempt to entangle him in unwarranted controversies”.

According to a statement, “President Buhari will never be part of any unconstitutional act, and any attempt to link him with the inglorious past, when minority number of lawmakers impeached governors, will not stick.”

The presidency might be responding to a deluge of criticism against the President for keeping quite and allowing eight Benue APC lawmakers sit Monday at the assembly complex to issue the removal impeachment notice on Mr Ortom who recently left the party.

The majority members of the 30-member Benue State House of Assembly are of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the party Mr Ortom joined last week.

Read Adesina’s full statement below.

Even while attending the ECOWAS/ECCAS Summit in Togo, strident attempts were being made to drag President Muhammadu Buhari into the unfolding drama between the executive and the legislature in Benue State.

Statements have been issued by different interest groups, insinuating that the President may have a hand in the development in Benue. This is paranoia at its worst, coming from people who have wittingly positioned themselves against the clean-up of the country, and the way we do things. They prefer business as usual.

President Buhari will never be part of any unconstitutional act, and any attempt to link him with the inglorious past, when minority number of lawmakers impeached governors, will not stick. It will simply be like water off the duck’s back. Those with open minds know this, but those who cavil would rather source everything untoward to the President. It is murky ground in which they are now marooned, as fallout of their resistance to change in the country.

President Buhari will always stand by all that is noble and fair, and will reject attempts to drag him into infamy. People who stoke fires by deliberate acts of omission or commission, and then summon the President to come and put it out will find that this President will be guided by the Constitution at all times, no matter the attempt to entangle him in unwarranted controversies.

When it suits them, they preach separation of powers and true federalism, and in another breath, they call on the President to interfere brazenly in affairs at state level…

“People who stoke fires by deliberate acts of omission or commission, and then summon the President to come and put it out will find that this President will be guided by the Constitution at all times, no matter the attempt to entangle him in unwarranted controversies”.