THE House of
Representatives Thursday turned down the request by President Goodluck
Jonathan to extend the emergency rule in the troubled states of Adamawa,
Borno and Yobe by another six months.
Spokesman of the House of
Representatives, Alhaji Zakari Mohammed explained that an extension of
the emergency rule was needless since President Jonathan has been
empowered by law to keep the peace in the country.
Zakari who briefed reporters
shortly after the lawmakers met behind closed doors justified why the
motion to that effect moved by deputy House leader, Mr Leo Ogor and
unanimously adopted at the session with Aminu Waziri Tambuwal presiding
over the controversial issue.
According to him: "We have not
extended the emergency rule. Rather we have asked the President to rely
on section 8 of the Armed forces Act which empowers the president to
deploy the military to troubled spots in the country. We rely on that
bearrng in mind that if we had approved this today, it would have been
the fourth since the request for emergency rule started in May 2013.
"Therefore we have done three
extension and if we had extended today, that would have been fourth in
the series. Anything you are doing you should be able to take stock of
what you are seeing whether or not that action you are taking is
yielding results. Mr president should rely on that because if you take a
course that is not yielding results, it simply means that Mr president
should take another course. The armed forces Act empowers him to deploy
members of the armed forces to any troubled point in this country."
Flanked by his deputy, Mr Victor
Ogene (APGA: Anambra) and other members of the committee media and
public affairs, he further argued that Sections 218, 217 (2) (c),14 (4)
(2) of the 1999 constitution as amended further lends credence to the
fact that the President can exercise his powers to keep the peace in the
country.
Zakari urged members of the armed
forces, the states governments, in conjunction with their respective
local vigilante to rededicate themselves towards ensuring the defeat of
the Boko Haram insurgents.
Expressing dismay over the attempt
by a contingent of armed policemen to stop Tambuwal from gaining access
to the chamber of the House, he reiterated the resolve of members of
the House to uphold and defend the constitution even in the face of
intimidation and threat to their lives.
Zakari who urged the police
authorities to direct their energies towards flushing out members of the
Boko Haram insurgents from the Sambisa forest also dismissed widely
held views that there were plans to impeach Speaker Tambuwal who
recently defected from the PDP to the APC.
Meanwhile, Ogor has expressed
concern over the ugly incidence in the House adding that the resolution
did not in any way hamper President Jonathan from exercising his powers
to keep the peace in the country.
He said but for the temperament of
his colleagues over the ugly incidence, the request for the extension
of emergency rule would have been considered in favour of President
Jonathan.
He added: "As it stands, there is
nowhere in the National Assembly Act that spells out how the president
can deploy soldiers. The president can ahead to address the insurrection
in the country. State of emergency or no state of emergency, the battle
continues."
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