By: Olusegun Lawrence Members of the Nigerian Senate from the northern part of the country are not pleased with the request made to the National Assembly by President Goodluck Jonathan to extend emergency rule in three north-eastern states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe.
Consequently, they have vowed to frustrate Senate’s approval. President Jonathan on Tuesday formally requested for another six months extension of emergency rule to enable security agencies entrench peace and tranquillity in those states.
Sequel to the presidential request, the Senate Wednesday summoned the Service Chiefs to appear before it on Thursday to brief members on the security situation in those states.
Prompt News recalls that President Jonathan on May 15, 2013, declared a state of emergency in the three states following incessant attacks by the Islamist insurgents, Boko Haram.
Addressing newsmen after a closed door meeting that lasted for about three hours, the leader of the Northern Senators’ Caucus, Umaru Dahiru, posited that extending emergency rule is not the best option in solving security challenge in those states.
According to him, the committee set up by the Forum has submitted its report and forwarded to government for consideration.
“Our meeting this afternoon discussed basically, the issue of emergency rule in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe. Everybody in attendance made contributions and a lot was said.
“The majority position is basically that we are not going with state of emergency rule that could make the security personnel to achieve success in the area.
“We believe a lot of things ought to be addressed in order to conquer the issue of insurgency. So, our own position is that we are not going to support extension of emergency rule in the area.
“We are going to engage the three governors in the affected states. We want to know what went wrong to be able to come up with better ways to tackle the crisis. However, the government must work for the benefits of its citizens.
“The leadership of the affected states and our forum are saying no to emergency rule.
“The constitution requires two-third in terms of voting. Of course we are going to vote on the issue. If we can out number them during the voting fine, but of course, our position is that we are going to vote against it.
“Technically, section 304 sub-sections 6, states the requirements of how the states of emergency should be declared and our position is against it and obviously, we are going to stand by it,” Dahiru stated.
