THE request by President Goodluck Jonathan for an extension of
emergency rule in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states appears to be facing a
tough time to sail through in the Senate, as senators, on Tuesday,
suspended debate on the matter.
The
senators had gone into an executive session after Senate President,
David Mark, read the letter seeking the extension from President
Goodluck Jonathan.
But the deliberations at the executive session was inconclusive, as senators resolved to continue the deliberations today.
Sources in the Senate said senators expressed divergent views behind
the closed doors, with opinions said to be sharply divided on the way
out.
While a number of senators rejected the extension bid, others called
for support for the plan, as, according to them, the security situation
in the North-East had not improved since the declaration.
A senator, who is in support of the idea, said withdrawing the
military from the area at this time would affect the morale of the
troops, adding that the way out could just be to extend the emergency
rule.
The request by President Jonathan was for the extension of the proclamation of emergency rule by another six months.
Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba, also moved a motion, citing Order 40 (2) of the Senate standing rule to back the declaration.
Mark, who opened the Senate session after the closed session, said:
“the Senate, in a closed session, met and discussed the letter from Mr
President on the extension of a state of emergency.
“We had a very extensive debate on it. And we will continue with the debate tomorrow (Wednesday).”
The letter by the president read in part: “May I respectfully draw
your attention to the state of emergency proclamation 2013 in respect of
Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states, which was approved by the National
Assembly and extended for a further period of six months, as conveyed by
the Clerk of the National Assembly, dated May 21, 2014.
“By virtue of provisions of Sections 305, (6) C of the Constitution
of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended, the proclamation
aforementioned will elapse after a period of six months from the date of
approval of the National Assembly, except the period is extended by the
National Assembly.
“It is important to state that despite concerted efforts by this
administration to stem the tide of terrorism and insurgency in the
affected states, the security challenges that necessitated the
proclamation are yet to abate.
“Consequently, it has become imperative to request the approval of
the Senate for extension of the period for the state of emergency for a
further period of six months.
“In view of the foregoing, I most respectfully request distinguished
senators to consider and approve by resolution the extension of the
proclamation of the state of emergency by a further period of six months
from the date of expiration of the current period.
“I look forward, distinguished Senate President, to the usual kind
expeditious consideration of the above request by the Senate of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
Vice-Chairman, Senate Committee on Information, Media and Public
Affairs, Senator Bello Tukur, who briefed newsmen after the sitting,
said the deliberations in the chamber were inconclusive.
According to him, the lawmakers would continue the discussions today.
“The Senate met behind closed doors to consider the letter from Mr President but we did not conclude deliberations on it.
“I want you to reserve whatever questions you have on the issue till
tomorrow (today) when we would have concluded discussions on it,” he
said.
But two senators from emergency affected areas, Senators Ahmed Lawan
(Yobe North) and Ali Ndume (Borno South), in separate interviews with
newsmen, said the senators were opposed to the extension.
“Although, we will continue deliberations on the issue tomorrow
(today ), but I can assure you that we will not approve the emergency
rule extension, because the president can deploy the military to any
part of the country without declaring state of emergency.
“We have a very strong military in Nigeria and nobody can doubt their
capacity to handle this insurgency except if the government is telling
us that so many things are fundamentally wrong,” Lawan said.
Ndume also said his colleagues would reject the extension of State of emergency.
“The state of emergency, since it was declared in the three states,
had taken us from bad to worse. Our fears now is that if we extend it
again, we are inviting more problems to ourselves, because the
insurgents would capture more territories during the period.
“As the representatives of my people, my entire constituents are
totally opposed to the extension of the emergency rule because it
restricts movements of the civilian populace while the insurgents move
freely and have a field day,” Ndume said.
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