WE'RE SERIOUS ABOUT CALL FOR JONATHAN'S RESIGNATION – CIROMA

Ciroma
At a time when Northern Political Leaders Forum (NPLF) is under attack for asking President Goodluck Jonathan to either resign or face impeachment proceedings over the October 1 bomb blasts, the arrow head of the group, Mallam Adamu Ciroma, has said that the call is not an empty threat.

He told Saturday Sun the fact that ultimatum given to the president has expired does not mean the group is doing something about its position. He said he stands by the statement he signed, adding that the group meant every word contained in the statement.

On the belief that impeachment proceedings may not be concluded before May 29, 2011, Ciroma asked: 'Is that what some people are saying? We shall see. We are working. Of course, I stand by my statement.'

The NPLF leaders issued a statement asking President Jonathan to either resign before the end of last week or the National Assembly should proceed with his impeachment with immediate effect.

The statement, which was signed by Ciroma on behalf of 14 other members, followed an interview granted Al Jazeera Television by leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND), Mr. Henry Okah, who was quoted as saying that he was approached by the Presidency government to prevail on MEND to retract its statement claiming responsibility for the October 1 attack so northerners would be blamed for it.

The statement read in part: 'This is another confirmation of our fears that President Jonathan will employ extra-judicial means in pursuit of his ill-advised ambition to contest the 2011 elections.

'We would like to state for the umpteenth time that President Jonathan's desperation to be president again in 2011 can only take Nigeria back to the dark days of (former) President Olusegun Obasanjo's Third Term with all its attendant instability and the wasting of innocent lives.

'Now that the president has proved that he is incapable of leading the nation justly and fairly and that he is desperate enough to want to hang mass murder around the neck of unnamed northerners to achieve his second term, we, as citizens of this country, have totally lost confidence in his leadership and hereby call on him to immediately resign.

'If he fails to do so by the end of the week, we call on the National Assembly to commence impeachment proceedings against him with immediate effect. We state without any equivocation that, as northerners and as citizens of this country, we no longer feel safe and secure under his leadership.'

Few hours after the bomb blasts, President Jonathan said that MEND was not responsible for the bombings, adding that he knew those responsible.

Asked if he was disturbed by the criticism that trailed his statement, Ciroma said it was normal, adding that he was taking the attack in his stride.