Senate Backs Jonathan, Rejects Pro YarAdua Moves

PHOTO: THE SENATE.

ABUJA April 13, (THEWILL) – The Senate has said it is not divided in its support for Acting President Goodluck Jonathan.

It however restated its resolve not to impeach ailing President Umaru Yar’Adua but to focus on giving Jonathan the necessary legislative support to deliver on the mandates of the present administration.

Chairman Senate Committee on Information and Media, Senator Ayogu Eze, stated Senate’s position in a statement today (Tuesday) saying that the upper house is solidly behind the Acting President and the new political dispensation in the country.

The statement is coming on the backdrop of speculations in the media that the Senate is divided along the lines of those in support of Jonathan and those loyal to Yar’Adua.

There were speculations that the federal lawmakers were at each others neck along the said division following fears that some senators in Jonathan group are working on impeachment moves against the ailing President.

It was gathered that the pro Yar’Adua group have been holding meetings to find ways to checkmate their colleagues.

However in the statement Eze said the entire National Assembly adopted the doctrine of necessity on which basis it installed Jonathan as Acting President adding that it was not a handiwork of some individuals in the Senate.

The statement reads, "The doctrine of necessity which empowered the Acting President to take on the full powers of that office was the creation of the entire Senate, and indeed the National Assembly. 

"It is therefore curious that the media has persistently created the impression that this was the handiwork of a handful of individuals. No single individual or handful of individuals can appropriate the work of the Senate.

"The Senate, under the mature leadership of the Senate President, Senator David A. B. Mark, is solidly behind the Acting President and the new political dispensation which the Senate spear-headed along with other stakeholders.

"The doctrine of necessity is the brainchild of the Senate, clearly and unambiguously led by the Senate leadership, which indeed came up with the ingenuous explanation of substituted transmission of notice of leave, anchored on the tenets of that doctrine."

Eze said rather than engaging in divisive politics, the Senate had focused on refining the legal framework for enthroning a credible electoral process for the benefit of the country.

He said this is the reason behind the speedy passage by the Senate of amendments of the Electoral Act and the electoral provisions in the 1999 Constitution.

The Senate spokesman said the legislature had also accelerated the passage of the 2010 budget and the screening of ministers to ensure that it gave the Executive under Jonathan all the necessary tools to deliver the dividends of democracy to the people.