National Assembly Lacks Power to Summon Buhari—Malami

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By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The Minister of Justice and the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Mr Abubakar Malami, has disclosed that the National Assembly lacks the power to summon the President, Mr Muhammadu Buhari.

Last Tuesday, the House of Representatives asked the President to appear before it to explain how he was handling the security situation in Nigeria.

The invitation was propelled by the killing of over 40 rice farmers in Borno State by the Boko Haram sect the penultimate weekend.

Hours after the lawmakers summoned Mr Buhari, the Speaker of the House, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, was at the Presidential Villa, Abuja for a meeting with the President.

After discussions with the number one citizen of the nation, Mr Gbajabiamila informed newsmen that the President has agreed to honour the invitation.

On Monday, one of the social media aides of the President, Ms Lauretta Onochie, disclosed that her boss would address a joint session of the National Assembly on Thursday.

However, yesterday, at an emergency meeting of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abuja, it was speculated that Governors elected under the platform of the party prevailed on Mr Buhari not to honour the Thursday appearance.

This may have been based on the call by the call by the lawmakers of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the parliament for the impeachment of the President.

It may have been feared that if Mr Buhari appears before the National Assembly, he would be booed by members of the opposition, an action the ruling party may find embarrassing.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Minister of Justice stressed that the parliament was not empowered by the 1999 constitution (as amended) to summon the President, especially to public divulge security matters.

“National Assembly has no constitutional power to envisage or contemplate a situation where the President would be summoned by the National Assembly on the operational use of the armed forces,” Mr Malami noted.

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