DEBATE on the request of
President Goodluck Jonathan for
an extension of the state of
emergency in three North-East
states was again deadlocked in the
Senate on Wednesday, following
divergent views expressed by
senators on the matter.
The lawmakers had entered an
executive session, which lasted two
hours, but unresolved.
Senate President, David Mark, who
briefed the senators after the doors
were thrown open, said
deliberations would continue
today.
He said the senators had a robust
deliberation on the matter, but
discussion would continue on
Thursday, when service chiefs are
also expected to brief the senators.
Mark said: “The Senate in the
committee of the whole discussed
the letter from Mr President on the
state of emergency in Adamawa,
Borno and Yobe states.
“Senate also resolved that we will
invite the service chiefs to brief us
and whatever information they give
us will enable us take a firm
decision on the matter.”
Wednesday’s sitting marked the
second day of deliberations, but
the senators were yet to come to
an agreement on the issue.
Senate’s spokesman, Senator
Enyinnaya Abaribe, who briefed
newsmen after the sitting, said
that the Senate also agreed that
Mark would speak with the
governors of the three affected
states.
Senator Abaribe said: “We agreed
as a Senate that discussion will
continue today. And also for the
purpose of having further
information, invited the service
chiefs to be available today to also
brief us on the efforts that have
been ongoing in the past six
months when the emergency was
declared. We hope we will take a
decision today in the interest of
this country.”
He also denied insinuations that
senators were being induced with
money to change their minds on
the issue describing the claim as
“utter rubbish.”
Senator Ahmed Lawan, who also
spoke to newsmen, said the
discussion would continue today,
even though he said he remained
opposed to the idea.
He said: “We are still talking. Once
again, I am speaking for myself,
not for the Senate of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria. I am speaking
as a senator representing Yobe
North.
“We are still discussing the
request of Mr President for
extension of the state of
emergency. Many of us are
opposed to it; I am particularly
vehemently opposed to it. I believe
that we should explore other
avenues, but some other people
feel differently. Discussion
continues tomorrow.”
Senator Kabiru Gaya, who
lamented the continuous loss of
territories in states under
emergency rule, said the
lawmakers were uncomfortable
with the situation.
Another senator who spoke on the
matter, Boluwaji Kunlere, said
there appeared no alternative to
the state of emergency.
He further said: “Whether rightly or
wrongly, there is an alleged
genocide. So, people must be
properly protected including the
president, the Senate, as well as
the citizens.
Also on Wednesday, Senator Mark
told senators of the Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) that
screening for the 2015 election
would take place in the National
Assembly today.
Meanwhile, a Bauchi-based group,
Christian/ Muslim Peace
Movement, has kicked against
President Jonathan’s fresh request
forwarded to the National
Assembly seeking to extend the
state of emergency in Adamawa,
Borno and Yobe states.
The current six-month extension
granted the president would expire
today and President Jonathan, on
Monday, requested for an
extension of the state of
emergency for another six months.
Speaking with journalists in
Bauchi, on Wednesday, chairman
of the group, Ambassador Aminu
Garba Sidi, stated that the current
insecurity in the North-East had
shown that leaders of the country
had failed in the duty of protecting
the people.
According to Sidi, there was no
need for extending the state
emergency in the North-East, as
the Federal Government had failed
to use the declaration of a state of
emergency to tackle insurgency in
the zone, where many people had
been killed by the insurgents, while
many had been displaced.
He stated that the Federal
Government had been handling the
security challenges in the zone
with levity, adding that government
was treating some people
implicated in the insurgency as
scared cows, while millions of
Nigerians were suffering daily.
Sidi further lamented that in spite
of the state of emergency in the
three states, insurgents were
getting bolder by the day and even
went as far as annexing Nigerian
territory and declaring a caliphate.
“It is unfortunate that the Federal
Government still wants to extend
the current state of emergency in
the North-East region, even as
nothing tangible had been
achieved in the past. The
declaration of a state of emergency
has caused untold hardship to the
people and the region as a whole,”
Ambassador Sidi said.
He declared that the current
insurgency was not particularly
targeted at any religious group in
the zone, saying that both
Christians and Muslims had
suffered untold hardship since the
Boko Haram sect started waging
war against Nigeria five years ago.
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