Doubts Over Buhari’s Honour Of NASS Invite As AGF Intervenes

There were increasing doubts in Abuja on Wednesday on the possibility of President Muhammadu Buhari honouring Thursday’s appointment with the House of Representatives following misgivings by the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN).

The House had summoned the president upon misgivings about the spate of insecurity in the country and the president had reportedly agreed to appear on Thursday.

However, in his intervention on Wednesday, Malami said the National Assembly lacked the power to question the president on security matters.

In a statement titled, ‘Buhari’s Summon: NASS Operates Outside Constitutional Bounds’ he said:

 “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 the Commander-in-Chief, the President has exclusivity on security and has confidentiality over security. These powers and rights he does not share. So, by summoning the President on national security operational matters, the House of Representative operated outside constitutional bounds. President’s exclusivity of constitutional confidentiality investiture within the context of the constitution remains sacrosanct.”

“Mr. President has enjoyed Constitutional privileges attached to the Office of the President including exclusivity and confidentiality investiture in security operational matters, which remains sacrosanct.”

Malami added that the National Assembly has no “constitutional power to envisage or contemplate a situation where the President would be summoned by the National Assembly on operational use of the Armed Forces.

“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.”

“President Muhammadu Buhari of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has recorded tremendous success in containing the hitherto incessant bombing, colossal killings, wanton destruction of lives and property that bedeviled the country before attaining the helm of affairs of the country in 2015.

“The confidentiality of strategies employed by the President as the commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is not open for public exposure in view of security implications in probable undermining of the war against terror.

“The fact that President Muhammadu Buhari was instrumental to the reclaiming of over 14 Local Governments previously controlled by the Boko Haram in North East is an open secret, the strategies for such achievement are not open for public expose.”

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