Both arms of the National Assembly on
Tuesday ratified the emergency rule imposed on three northern sates of
Borno, Yobe and Adamawa with the two chambers attaching conditions to
their approvals.
While the Senate sought a code of
conduct for the military during the emergency rule, among others, the
House of Representatives said any order issued by President Goodluck
Jonathan during the period must be approved by the National Assembly
within seven days else it becomes a nullity.
The Senate said the Federal Government
must ensure adequate funding of the operations in the state; troops must
be given a code of conduct to guard against human rights abuse and that
relief materials must be sent to the three states.
It also said that all democratic structures in the three states must not be tampered with.
The upper chamber of the National
Assembly also urged the President not to foreclose the option of
dialogue with the Boko Haram sect.
It stated that the “carrot and stick” approach should be adopted.
The Senate reached its decisions after
meeting in closed session, which was attended by 100 senators. The
Senate has 109 members.
After the closed session, senators
through a voice vote approved the proclamation of a state of emergency
in the states, without any dissension.
President of the Senate, David Mark,
while reporting proceedings from the closed session, said, “We want to
emphasise, in fact, and very emphatically, that all democratic
structures must be left in place and must be allowed to operate fully
and actively; and they must also be involved in all the efforts that the
Federal Government is putting up to bring this ugly situation to an
end.
“We also would like to emphasise that
the armed forces are issued a proper code of conduct where they will be
humane; they will be benevolent and to make sure that all citizens are
treated with utmost respect so that they do not lose their respect as
human beings.”
Mark further said that the Senate was conscious of the fact that the Federal Government took the step as a last resort.
He, however, urged the government to
ensure the involvement of the amnesty committee in efforts to bring an
end to the Boko Haram insurgency.
According to him, this should ensure
that at the end of the day government can concentrate on efforts to win
the minds and hearts of the people in all the affected states.
Speaking after the session, Senate
spokesman, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, told journalists that senators
understood that the issue was beyond partisan politics.
He said that was the reason why there was no objection from the opposition parties.
“We spoke frankly to each other, and we
were of the opinion that Nigeria comes first. We should have a corporate
entity called Nigeria, after which we can have individual opinion,” he
said.
On the funding of the operations, he said the President had not indicated that he would need more funds.
He added that the Senate would be
willing to consider any supplementary budget if the President made any
request for the purpose of funding the emergency operation.
Asked why senators did not vote
individually, instead of a voice vote, Abaribe said, “Our rules state
that we can regulate our procedure, at the closed session we saw that we
needed to protect some members from any harm by people who are
misinformed. The decision was unanimous, there was no dissension.”
The House asked the Federal Government to compensate all victims of terrorism in the country as it enforced the emergency rule.
In an amendment that appeared to limit
Jonathan’s powers, the House said that the emergency rule should be
administered by the governors of the affected states and not the
President or “any person designated or authorised to act on his behalf.”
The House stated categorically that the
compensation should start ahead of the emergency rule or as the rule was
being implemented.
“Government should commence payment of
compensation to victims of terrorism on or before the emergency
proclamation,” it stressed.
Members of the House, presided over by
the Speaker, Mr. Aminu Tambuwal, had, like the Senators, met behind
closed doors for over three hours to consider the emergency proclamation
document.
Earlier before the closed session, Tambuwal had read a copy of the proclamation Gazette sent by Jonathan to members.
In a covering letter to the gazette,
Jonathan said that he declared the emergency in the states in compliance
with Section 305 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and was seeking
the approval of the House.
Part of the President’s letter reads,
“The main features of the proclamation are as follows: a declaration of a
State of Emergency in three states of the Federation, namely Adamawa,
Borno and Yobe.
“The continuation of the administrative
structures in the affected states to administer respective states
subject to any order, instruction or regulation as may, from time to
time, be issued by me.”
However, lawmakers introduced an entirely new clause on compensation payments to victims of terrorism.
In addition, they want the
implementation of the emergency rule to be restricted to the maintenance
of “public peace, security and safety” in the affected states.
Another amendment stated that the
governor or local government chairman of an affected area shall remain
in charge of the “general administration” for the emergency period.
As members reverted to open plenary,
Tambuwal announced the decisions taken at the executive session and
called for a voice vote.
A total of 253 members sat on Tuesday to approve the emergency proclamation. The House has 360 members.
Tambuwal observed that the number of
members in attendance surpassed the two-thirds majority required by the
constitution to endorse the proclamation.
He spoke further, “The constitution
requires that the House shall attend to the matter of the emergency only
if two-thirds of members are sitting.
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