Insecurity: Buhari may appear before Reps next week if…

The leadership of the House of Representatives, on Thursday, observed that President Muhammadu Buhari may appear before the Parliament within 14 days over the state of security in the country, barring unforeseen circumstances.

Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Hon Benjamin Kalu, gave the House position while giving an update on the outcome of the meeting between President Buhari and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Femi Gbajabiamila, on Wednesday, argued that the invitation of the President was not aimed at ridiculing him but aimed at ensuring solution-seeking mechanism.

Recall that House had during last Tuesday’s plenary invited Buhari to brief it on the security situation in the country when it adopted a motion on: “Urgent need to condemn and investigate the insane killing of unarmed 43 farmers in Jere Local Government of Borno State, sponsored by members of the House from the State.

Hon. Kalu who underscored the need for the Executive and Legislative arms to compare notes on security and other national issues with the vow to improve on governance said: “Security is topmost on his agenda at the moment and that’s why in the course of next week since we just finished today, I’m sure he will be able to adjust his programmes, I know Tuesday may not be feasible because we have NEC meeting. So we are looking at Thursday or upper Tuesday, the date is not yet definite.

“As the Speaker said yesterday, it will be out of place since we were not summoning, when we summon, you give date and time, but this is a back-channel diplomacy, legislative diplomacy. We are not compelling, we are inviting, and when we invite, we rub minds to find out the availability of the person you’re inviting.

“That was what the leadership did yesterday, they engaged with Mr President and instead of mandating him to appear on a particular day, they rubbed minds on when it will be convenient for him to appear and he accepted.

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“We have an estimate of when we think it’s going to be. In every matter of urgent public importance, time is of the essence and based on that and in the wisdom of the President he’s not delaying but prioritising on it.”

The House Spokesman who assured that “nobody is going to harass” Mr President in the course of the interaction, maintained that his refusal to honour the invitation of the Parliament would amount to a disservice to the nation.

While responding to questions on Mr President disregard to the constant calls for the sack of the Service Chiefs, Hon Kalu said: “The Service Chiefs will be one of the issues the House will discuss with the President.

“We are looking for solutions. It’s not about the visit of the President, it’s about the solution-seeking mechanism we are looking for strategies that will help us find solutions. The visit of the President happens to be one of them.

“What will it afford the House? What we want from him is to do an analysis of the security sector. Mr President what are your strengths so far, your weaknesses. We think these are your weaknesses. If we believe that not changing the service chiefs is a weakness we will mention it as well. Mr President what are your threats, how can we help with this your threats, to convert them to opportunities.

“For example declaring a state of emergency on security, we will lay everything on the table for him to see so that he will know what we think based on what they informed us at our constituents. It’s going to be a discussion.

“Why are we still engaging the service chiefs, because they are still serving the nation, we can’t boycott them. If you don’t engage them you are doing a disservice to the nation, to the citizens. Because it means they are on the frolic of their own and no one is asking questions. The right thing is to keep engaging with them and keep asking Mr President to tell you why that’s the best strategy to curb the security problems in the country,” he noted.

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE

Insecurity: Buhari may appear before Reps next week if…