Nigeria’s Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, has declared that the National Assembly lacks the power to invite President Muhammadu Buhari to brief it on the growing security challenge in the country and Federal Government’s efforts at containing it.
Malami’s spokesman, Dr. Umar Gwandu, quoted him, in a statement on Wednesday as saying: “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.
The statement was titled Buhari’s Summon: NASS Operates Outside Constitutional Bounds’
“The 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,” he said.
“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,” he said.
The House of Representatives last week invited Buhari over the rising insecurity and the killing of over 43 farmers in Borno State.
The Presidency had indicated that that President Buhari would appear before a joint session of the National Assembly on Thursday. But on Tuesday there were indications that the President had decided not to attend the meeting any longer.
“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,” Malami noted.
“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.
The AGF said security matters remained the exclusive preserve of the executive arm of government and the National Assembly must not forget this.
“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.”
Malami said the President could freely address the National Assembly when he wants but could not be summoned to do so.
“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 argued that Buhari has recorded tremendous success, noting that the President cannot be compelled to reveal the nation’s security strategies or comment publicly on the operations of the nation’s armed forces.
He contended that the lawmakers acted beyond their constitutional powers when they purported to summon the President to speak publicly on issues bordering on national security and operations of the armed forces.
“President’s exclusivity of constitutional confidentiality investiture within the context of the constitution remains sacrosanct.
“President Muhamamdu 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.”
