ABUJA – The House of Representatives on Thursday rejected the request by President Goodluck Jonathan to further extend the emergency rule in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states.
Rep. Mohammed Zakari, Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, said announced this to newsmen shortly after the house rose from its executive session.
Zakari said that the house resolved that the Federal Government should rely on the provisions of the constitution to deploy military personnel to further combat insurgency in the affected region.
“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 him to deploy the military to troubled spots of the country.
“If we had approved this today it would have been the fourth on the series.
“You remember the request for emergency rule started in May 2013 and therefore we had done three extensions.
“If we had extended today that would have been fourth in the series
“In anything you are doing, you should be able to take stock; you will be able to see whether or not that action you are taking is yielding results.
“We will be doing more good if Mr President relies on that more.
“Because if we are adopting a particular style and it is not giving us the desired result, we should be able to change it.
“The armed forces act empowers him to deploy soldiers to troubled parts of this country for them to take necessary action.
“This issue was looked at critically at the executive session and we came to this conclusion,’’ he said.
Zakari, however, urged Nigerians to play their part in the fight against insurgency currently affecting the country.
He condemned the activities of security operatives who blocked the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, from entering the National Assembly.
According to him, “we see it as one of the tests of democracy.
“Our 7th assembly is insistent on the independence of the legislature; whatever happens in the House of Representatives can be determined by 360 members.
Security operatives took over the National Assembly ahead of a crucial sitting of the House of Representatives.
The enhanced security operations, which earlier blocked Tambuwal’s access to the complex, led to chaos and the use of teargas to disperse crowd.
Meanwhile some lawmakers forced their way into the National Assembly by jumping the gate of the complex. (NAN)
