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The head of Benin’s
parliament has rejected a request by lawmakers to impeach President
Boni Yayi, saying they failed to follow procedures.

Mathurin Coffi
Nago, president of the national assembly, said on Friday that the
lawmakers had not followed the correct procedures, so their request had
been rejected. It was not clear if they would re-launch their request.

Lawmakers had been
trying to impeach Yayi over his alleged involvement in a scheme, which
swindled thousands of Beninois of their savings and has already led to
the sacking of a minister and large-scale street protests.

Yayi’s spokesman had previously denied the president’s involvement in the case.

So far, lawmakers,
who have about 50 signatures from the 83-seat parliament, have fallen
short of a two-thirds majority needed to summon the president for trial
for treason and perjury.

The members of
parliament accuse Yayi of hosting officials from ICC Services. The firm
is accused of stealing some 100 billion CFA francs in deposits after
promising returns of 20-50 percent.

Search for money

Last month, more than 100,00 people took to the streets demanding that the government help them get their money back.

ICC Services
officials have been put under house arrest and Mr Yayi sacked his
interior minister in July, accusing him of being directly involved in
the scam.

IHS Global Insight
senior Africa analyst, Kissy Agyemen-Togobo, said Benin, a stable
sliver of land between Nigeria and Togo, risked political turbulence
over the scandal. He warned that the current spat was on a much larger
scale than standoffs over wages seen recently in Benin.

“With elections
looming in 2011, domestic pressure on Boni (Yayi) is expected to rise
to unprecedented levels,” Agyemen-Togobo added.

Yayi was elected in 2006 and has taken steps to liberalise the
economy. He has also been popular with members of the international
community.