Buoyed by the pronouncement of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, that the House of Representatives lacks the power to summon the president to appear before it, President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday failed to appear before the House as earlier expected.
recall that the House had issued a summon to the President to appear before it to explain why insecurity is still a hard nut to crack, despite billions of naira worth of resources spent on arms procurement and the welfare of the men of the armed forces.
The resolution to summon the president followed a rowdy debate on the killing of over 40 farmers in Zabarmari in Borno state by Boko Haram.
While some of lawmakers did not agree to the prayer to summon Buhari, others insisted he must appear before them.Advertisement
Thereafter on December 2, Femi Gbajabiamila, speaker of the house, said the president has agreed to address the national assembly and that a date would be disclosed.
The next day, Benjamin Kalu, spokesman of the house, said would appear before the lawmakers on December 10.
But on Wednesday, Abubakar Malami, attorney-general of the federation (AGF), said the national assembly lack the power to summon the president, a red signal that the president was not likely to honour his promise to accept the invitation.
His words: “The right of the president to engage the national assembly and appear before it is inherently discretionary in the President and not at the behest of the national assembly,”the AGF argued.
“The management and control of the security sector is exclusively vested in the President by Section 218 (1) of the constitution as the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces including the power to determine the operational use of the Armed Forces.
“An invitation that seeks to put the operational use of the armed forces to a public interrogation is indeed taking the constitutional rights of law making beyond bounds.”
As of Wednesday, Kalu was quoted as saying that the house was still expecting the president to appear in the green chamber.
