Call for Buhari’s resignation unreasonable, says Senate

• Arewa youths split over Buhari, Atiku eligibility for presidency in 2019
• Group says either can emerge as North’s candidate

The Senate has dismissed as unreasonable the recent calling for the resignation of President Muhammadu Buhari over his ill-health.

It also cautioned the sponsors and participants in a protest by a coalition of civil society organisations, operating under the aegis of #OurMumuDonDo, to stop heating up the polity.

Spokesman of the upper legislative chamber, Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, in a statement in Abuja yesterday said the protesters were only creating unnecessary tension in the country and seeking to divert the attention of the Presidency from the economic and security issues, which are being tackled with vigour.

He said that Buhari had complied with the provisions of the nation’s constitution, which stipulated that he must handover to the Vice President and duly inform the two chambers of the legislature about his medical vacation.

“The President has broken no law and therefore we do not see any justification for this diversion and noise making. The sponsors are merely seeking cheap publicity at the expense of the peace of Nigeria.

“We, in the National Assembly, are satisfied that there is no vacuum. The Federal Government is working. Acting President Yemi Osinbajo is providing the required leadership. So, there is no reason for the protests.

“All Nigerians now should focus on praying for the safe return of the President. We in the Senate are happy about the report by the governors and party leaders who recently visited President Buhari in London and we know he will soon return to continue to provide leadership to our people and the rest of Africa.”

Meanwhile, as Arewa youths split over the participation of the old breed politicians from the North in the 2019 Presidency, another group of northern youths, Arewa Youth Grand Alliance (AYGA), has aligned its support for the candidature of President Muhammadu Buhari and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.

Members of the AYGA, who criticised the recent position of the President of Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF), Alhaji Yarima Shettima, that the duo should not be produced by the region again in 2019, opined that should President Buhari decline to vie for a second term, Atiku should be supported by the elders in the region to emerge as the presidential flagbearer from the North.

A statement by the AYGA president, Alhaji Idris Inuwa yesterday, said that “our attention has been drawn to a purported interview granted by the President of Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF), Yarima Shattima” over whether President Buhari or Atiku Abubakar should emerge as presidential candidate from the North in 2019.

According to him, the AYCF leader said that this position could not sway northerners not to support either Buhari or Atiku if they would vie for the presidency in 2019.