Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Hon. Benjamin Kalu (APC, Abia) has said declaring a state of emergency on security was more important than inviting President Muhammadu Buhari to brief the parliament on the state of insecurity.
Recall that the House had on Tuesday amidst rowdy session summoned Buhari over the killing of 43 rice farmers in Zabarmari village in Jere Local government Area of Borno State.
At a press conference in Abuja, Kalu explained that the parliament also gave the president the backing to declare a state of emergency so as to be able to use other sources and mechanisms to solve the security problem of the country.
He said: “Unless there’s a declaration of a state of emergency on security, Mr President’s hand will be tied to do what the former President Jonathan did, which was asking for external help and bringing in external help, the mercenaries and the rest of them to make sure we fight to clear the issue of security.
“The constitution will not allow Mr President to act in this direction and that was why through legislative intervention, to tell you that resolutions are not dramas, they are the open doors, that invites the executive to formulate policies and take positions that will help them achieve the desires of Nigerians.
“Nigerians should be proud that we’ve tied our resolutions with that of the Northern governors who have asked that a state of emergency be declared on security and that’s the wishes of most of the Northern state governors.”
The House spokesman affirmed that the president had been invited so many times but did not turned up because he was invited by those who were in warfare with him.
