Senate President, David Mark
The
request by President Goodluck Jonathan for a six-month extension of the
state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states is about to put
the Senate to the test, writes SUNDAY ABORISADE
Obviously convinced that the insurgency
in the three north-eastern states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe is far from
being resolved, President Goodluck Jonathan has asked the National
Assembly for another six-month extension of the emergency rule currently
in place in the affected states. It, therefore, did not come as a
surprise to many when both the Senate and House of Representatives
summoned the military high command last Wednesday to speak on the
desirability or otherwise of acceding to the request of the
Commander-In-Chief.
The meeting was attended by Maj.-Gen.
Kenneth Minimah (Chief of Army Staff); Rear Admiral Usman Jibrin (Chief
of Naval Staff), Air Vice Marshal Adesola Amosu (Chief of Air Staff);
the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar; and the Director,
Department of State Services, Mr. Ekpeyong Ita.
While members of the House of
Representatives wasted no time in approving the President’s request –
after they were briefed by the service chiefs, senators emerged from
their meeting with a resolution to engage in further consultations.
Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, who presided over the
senate session in the absence of the Senate President, David Mark,
announced the collective decision of senators after the exit of the
service chiefs.
He said, “As responsible and patriotic
Nigerians, we are looking at it from very diverse angles to ensure that
the security situation in those states improve at the shortest possible
time. Apart from that, the senate also agreed to do further consultation
with all the necessary stakeholders to ensure that everybody could buy
into whatever is needed to be done to secure those states and defeat the
insurgents there.” His summary of what transpired behind closed doors
did not capture the vehement opposition of senators from the affected
states. Senator from the affected states felt that acceding to the
President’s request would be tantamount to doing the same thing, the
same way, over a period of time while expecting a different result.
Several of them argued that the emergency rule, which has been in place
for about one year, was a burden on the people. They also argued that it
has failed to curb the excesses of the murderous Boko Haram terrorist
gang. This underlying sentiment featured prominently when Senator Ahmed
Lawan, a member of All Progressives Congress (Yobe-North) spoke to
reporters soon after the session.
Lawan said, “We are against the state of
emergency. What we require is effectiveness of those (military) who are
there and that does not require state of emergency. What we need to do
is to ensure that whatever resources are appropriated are utilised
properly.” He argued that the military did not require an emergency rule
in place when it conducted successful operations in Nasarawa, Benue,
Zamfara and Katsina states. He wondered why the case of the three states
in the North-East should be different.
To buttress his point, Lawan argued that,
“Insurgencies do not end in one, two or three years, we cannot have
emergency rule in perpetuity. In Turkey, it has taken over 30 years.
Pakistan and Colombia have had several decades of insurgency. What you
need to do is to continue to get the right arms and re-strategise until
you get to the situation where people would feel better. And you don’t
have to be under state of emergency.”
However, a member of the Peoples
Democratic Party in Imo State, Senator Hope Uzodinma, expressed the
confidence that the issue would be resolved when the Senate reconvenes
on Tuesday.
In an attempt to douse the tension
generated by the divergent views expressed, Senator Smart Adeyemi (PDP,
Kogi-West) admitted that his colleagues raised very fundamental issues
which needed to be addressed. According to him, there was the need to
hold further consultations because some of the issues raised by his
northern colleagues are genuine and cannot be ignored – if a proper
consensus is to be reached.
He said, “If those representatives (of
the affected states) have a different opinion and since our destiny is
tied together as Nigerians, we have to take time to investigate what
they have said so that by the time we come back, we will be speaking
from the point of knowledge as a follow-up to what they have said. I
must confess to you that when the service chiefs came and spoke at
length to us, quite a number of people changed their opinion on the
issue of emergency rule.”
Adeyemi noted that, “As it is, many of
the legislators have not really made up their minds as to whether they
are going to support it or not. But what is of paramount importance to
all of us is the safety of lives and property.”
The Northern Senators Forum had met
behind closed doors for three hours a day before the service chiefs were
summoned. They resolved to oppose the President’s request for an
extension of the state of emergency. Chairman of the forum, Senator
Umaru Dahiru (PDP, Sokoto-South), spoke to journalists after the
meeting. He explained that the group had set up a committee to interact
with the government of the affected states on the way forward.
Dahiru said, “The majority’s position is
basically that we are not going with the state of emergency. That is our
categorical position because we are not convinced that it is only the
issue 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 an extension of the
emergency rule in the area.
“The leadership of the affected states
and our forum here are saying no to emergency rule. The constitution
requires two-thirds majority in terms of voting. Of course, we are going
to vote on the issue. If we can outnumber them during the voting, fine,
but our position is that we are going to vote against it.”
He went on to explain that, “Technically,
Section 304, subsection 6, explains how a state of emergency should be
declared. Our own position is against it and, obviously, we are going to
stand by our position.” The chairman used the occasion to commend the
military for the sacrifices it has made to bring the insurgency under
control and pledged the support of members of the group to ensure total
victory was achieved. While expressing support for the acceptance of
assistance from foreign powers in the efforts to rescue more than 200
schoolgirls abducted by the Boko Haram sect in Chibok community of Borno
State on April 14, 2014, Dahiru cautioned that such support must be on
the terms of the Nigerian government.
By the virtue of the provisions of
Section 305(6) (c) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria, 1999, as amended, the emergency rule would elapse on Tuesday.
By a double stroke of fate and irony, the
three states under emergency rule are controlled by the opposition APC.
A major source of concern to many stakeholders is the huge cost of the
war. The three state governors have persistently said that apart from
the loss of lives, the cost of the emergency rule in terms of the
socio-economic life of citizens is incalculable. Apart from the
inconvenience caused by the several roadblocks in major towns and cities
within their states, the restriction of the movement of residents is
exacerbating, the governors said. This, they argue, is increasing the
poverty level in their states because farmers can no longer go to the
farm and petty traders, whose fortunes are tied to doing business
especially in the evenings, have been forced to look elsewhere.
Unconfirmed reports also state that each
of the state governments churn out N300m every month to support the
counter-insurgency effort. It is a general belief that this amount could
have been put to better use through the provision of basic amenities
for the people.
What has been achieved or lost in terms
of the provision of the dividends of democracy would be part of the
issues during campaigns. Beyond partisan calculations, it is hoped that
the security of lives and property of Nigerians living in these states
will guide senators as they reconvene to decide on the way forward.
http://www.punchng.com/politics/senate-decides-on-state-of-emergency/
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