BY canvassing the option of dialogue to resolve disagreements with the House of Representatives, the Presidency's initiative is ideal, against the threat of impeachment issued by members of the legislative house. Indeed, the lawmakers' threat to impeach President Goodluck Jonathan is not only curious, but is coming at a manifestly inauspicious time and for the wrong reason. Besides, the House's current image problems, and its appetite for controversies, have all but rendered its intention doubtful and suspicious.Under the motion: 'Non-implementation of 2012 budget,' the House of Representatives threatened the president with impeachment over 'poor implementation' of the budget; asking the president particularly to 'direct the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister on the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, to stop violation of 2012 Appropriation Act by releasing monies appropriated to MDAs for the first and second quarters immediately and third and fourth as at when due'. The House urged the president to do so before the expiration of its recess in September, failing which it might commence impeachment proceedings against him.The budget is the product of an Appropriation Act and its negation is a violation of the law and thus sanctionable. The ruling People's Democratic Party's leadership has affirmed the point that the president has committed impeachable errors. However, impeachment is not what the country needs at this time. The country is under terrorist attacks and faces sundry social problems that deserve the attention of responsive government and its component organs, such as the legislature. Taking on poor budget implementation is not the problem. The real issue lies in the appropriation system often underlined by budget padding. Threats of impeachment can only heat up the polity. Good enough, the Senate has said that it has no such plans.The pertinent question then is why this discordant note' A purposeful party with majority in both houses of the National Assembly could have resolved this matter at the structural level of caucuses and committees without venting it on the public domain. The failure of this seems to point up some ulterior motives for the threat. It is common knowledge that the House's image has taken a dive due to the scandal emanating from fuel subsidy probe involving its Chairman, House Committee on Education, Hon. Farouk Lawan, who was also the chairman of the ad hoc committee on fuel subsidy. The reputation deficit of the House is such that it has become difficult for the public to take it seriously even when it has good intention. Could the impeachment threat be a diversionary tactic to take the public attention off the House recently enmeshed in corruption scandal' Or is it a way of pressuring access to fund for so-called constituency projects'Whatever factor is driving the current threat, the House must realise that impeachment is a revered legislative process, which should not be trifled with. Elsewhere, mere parliamentary invitation to the executive could constitute a slur on the image of the government. Indeed, impeachment should not be used as a bogey for budget implementation. The failing in budget implementation, if found to be grievous, is a reflection of the failure of the oversight function of the National Assembly. Impeachment is not the first logical move to address this. It is historical that the country has witnessed impeachment threats to the presidency since 1999 and none did triumph against the incumbent. Besides, the country's budget cycles have been underlined by poor implementation since the inception of the current republic. It is only symptomatic of the low capacity of government for policy implementation. It is therefore, a nebulous ground to initiate impeachment.It is worth restating that there is a general disenchantment in the country today that constitutes enough ground for impeachment if it were to be desirable. The leading opposition party, Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), for one, has pointed to the emasculation of the doctrine of separation of power by the ruling People's Democratic Party, but impeachment is not the first step in entrenching that principle in the machinery of government; both horizontal and vertical accountabilities are useful first steps. It is, however, good news that the presidency, as well as the leadership of the governing party have called for dialogue. This course of action should be pursued. It is the part of reason, as the country is least prepared for the consequences of an impeachment crisis at this point in time.
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