NASS operated outside constitutional bounds by summoning Buhari ― Malami

The Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), on Wednesday, said that the National Assembly has no Constitutional Power to envisage or contemplate a situation where President Muhammadu Buhari 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,” Malami stated in a statement he personally signed.

The chief law officer 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.

He added that “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.

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“President’s exclusivity of constitutional confidentiality investiture within the context of the constitution remains sacrosanct,” Malami noted and added that President Buhari has recorded tremendous success in containing the hitherto incessant bombing, colossal killings, wanton destruction of lives and property that bedevilled the country before attaining the helm of affairs of the country in 2015.

Malami maintained that national security is not about publicity and that, the nation’s security architecture cannot be exposed for the sake of getting publicity.

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

NIGERIAN TRIBUNE

NASS operated outside constitutional bounds by summoning Buhari ― Malami