Jonathan can bypass NASS on emergency rule —Ogor •Legal luminaries react Deputy Leader, House of Representatives, Honourable Leo Ogor, on Thursday, said with the provision of Section 217(2) (c) of the 1999 Constitution, the president has very exclusive powers to use the armed forces to take care of any insurrection in the country. According to him, President Goodluck Jonathan, being a democrat, wanted to carry everybody along, adding that now that the issue had not been addressed, it behooves on the president to invoke that particular section, which gives him the powers to deploy the Nigerian armed forces to quell any issue of insurrection, subject to an Act of the National Assembly. “For me, the president can go ahead and keep our forces in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa to address the issue of insurrection. Section 8 of the Armed Forces Act, which gives the president the powers of the operational use of the armed forces, is very clear. With that, state of emergency or not, the battle continues. “So the president still has this exclusivity. And when you look at this state of emergency, there is nothing that differentiates it from the ones we’ve had, where all the democratic institutions are still in place. I would probably want to do some wrong interpretation, to say that there should be a total state of emergency, in line with my interpretation of section 217(2)(c) of the constitution,” he said. Speaking on what happened at the National Assembly complex on Thursday, Ogor said “sincerely, I want to take this opportunity to apologise to the people of Nigeria, it is a very bad experience. And I want to also use this opportunity to apologise to the Senate President who also came in to try as much as he can to make sure that there is peace in the House.” He said as a member, he was not aware that the incident would happen, adding that “what happened today was quite unparliamentary. I think we’ll find a way of addressing this issue.” Speaking on planned impeachment of President Jonathan, Ogor said the issue of impeachment in respect of this subject matter was totally inconsequential. On the reported planned impeachment of Tambuwal, he said “I’ve always looked at it from a constitutional point of view. To impeach a speaker, you will need two-thirds majority of the House. But beyond that is the issue of moral burden. And I’ve told you categorically that the issue will be discussed internally. We will use the mechanism of the House to discuss it.” Constitutional lawyer, Professor Itse Sagay, has decried the extension of the emergency rule in some parts of the North, describing it as indecisiveness on the part of the Federal Government and the Nigerian Armed Forces. Sagay decried the extension of emergency rule for the third time, pointing out that it had become a mystery how Nigerian armed forces which has quelled insurgency in Africa and other parts of the world, had been finding it impossible to successfully repel the insurgency in their own country. “Nigerian army has a very high record of capacity and success in Africa. So, what is happening in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe is a great mystery. If they can do it in Liberia, Sierra Leone and other parts of the world, why can’t they do it in their own country?” he queried. Former president, Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Olisa Agbakoba, suggested the application of Doctrine of Necessity in resolving the looming logjam. According to him “they know how to invoke the Doctrine of Necessity. Let them invoke it. My main concern is that these men thought more about themselves than us. They don’t think about us, if they do, we won’t have this problem.” Leadership of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) opposed the extension of emergency rule in the North-East. Its president, Mohammed Garba, while addressing newsmen in Abuja, said what was being witnessed in the last six months of the emergency rule were reckless actions and killings of innocent citizens. A former chairman of NBA, Ikeja Branch, Mr Monday Ubani, has called for prompt end to the state of emergency rule being enforced in parts of the North, alluding that anything otherwise will make it unconstitutional. Ubani made this known in a telephone chat with the Nigerian Tribune, on Thursday. The legal luminary, in his remarks, alluded that the application of the rule must be automatically brought to an end immediately it runs its course, except if the lawmakers opted for its continuation. He queried the legality of any form of extension or elongation of the rule without the express approval of the lawmakers who, he said, were constitutionally empowered to do so. Meanwhile, The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has urged the National Assembly to reject request for another extension of emergency rule in the North-East. In a statement by its national publicity secretary, Alhaji Muhammad Ibrahim, ACF said such move for extension of emergency rule was uncalled for. “It has, so far, failed to yield desired results,” the ACF said. It commended the efforts of the civilian JTF, vigilantes and hunters who had recaptured Mubi town from the Boko Haram insurgents.
Posted on: Fri, 21 Nov 2014 19:28:18 +0000
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