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afrol News, 13 August - The Nigerian federal Parliament has concluded on the incompetence of President Olusegun Obasanjo. The President has been ordered to resign within two weeks or face impeachment. Observers however agree Obasanjo should be able to overcome manoeuvre out of this situation without leaving office. The Parliament's lower House of Representatives today voted for a motion that condemned alleged "inadequacies, ineptitude, persistent disregard for the rule of law and the obvious corruption being perpetrated in the presidency." The motion, advising the President to "resign honourably within two weeks," was even backed by several members of Obasanjo's ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP). President Obasanjo - Nigeria's first civilian Head of State in 15 years - has been the subject of increased critique over the last months, especially regarding the government's economic policies. Today's parliamentary motion came after a disagreement over the federal budget, which had to be reviewed, according to the Parliament. Parliament claims the presidency's treatment of the 2002 budget has been a "breach of the constitution," for failing to obtain the necessary approvals from the legislative. The attack against Obasanjo, only one year before the next presidential elections, is the last in a row from an awakening Nigerian opposition. President Obasanjo is criticised or everything from too much federal interference to admitting too much powers to the single Nigerian states. Lately, however, critics are focused on economic failures, overspending and even corruption. An issue, for example, has been the presidency's bills for exaggerated foreign travelling. Tunji Oseni, the presidential spokesman, yesterday had to release a seven-page statement to explain the value of the large amount of foreign trips made. - The truth is that the president has achieved more than any other in re-working the nation's economy emphasis, a defensive presidential statement reads. "No nation develops through overwhelming and inefficient public sector spending," the president's spokesman adds, claiming that overspending was a bad habit of the earlier dictatorships, not followed up by Obasanjo. Parliament's impeachment threat however does not seems to be an imminent danger to the fulfilment of Obasanjo's first presidential term. An impeachment would have to be backed by two thirds of the members of both the upper and the lower house. Also, the formal process before an impeachment would be too long to be completed before Obasanjo's term ends. Oladipo Olaitan, leader of the opposition Alliance for Democracy, today told the French news agency AFP that he doubted the impeachment threat could be realised. Also the BBC's correspondent in Lagos, Dan Isaacs, agrees that President Obasanjo "certainly will not resign and is unlikely to be forced out of office." Observers however agree that this move - together with other political attacks against the presidency - increasingly is diminishing Obasanjo's changes of getting re-elected next year. Popular sentiments in Nigeria are turning against the Obasanjo government. Although dictatorship was abolished on federal level, Nigeria has returned to the folder of internationally respected nations and the human rights situation has improved significantly, Nigerians observe that the more profound problems of Nigeria have not been sufficiently addressed during Obasanjo's three years in office. These include corruption, poverty, tribalism, political violence and criminality. Sources: Based on Nigerian govt,
press reports and afrol archives
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