Tope Akinyode, a constitutional and human rights lawyer,
says the national assembly has the power to summon President Muhammadu Buhari.
Akinyode said this while reacting to the claim of Abubakar
Malami, minister of justice and attorney-general of the frustration (AGF), that
the lawmakers do not have such powers.
The house of representatives had summoned the president to
brief them on Nigeria’s security situation.
Although the president had agreed to appear before them, the
minister said such summon was directed outside the provisions of the
constitution.
Akinyode, however, faulted Malami’s position, describing it
as a joke.
He said: “I have read a report by the Attorney General of
the Federation and the Minister of Justice, Mr Abubakar Malami, SAN stating
that the National Assembly has no right to summon the President over security
issues because “the management and control of the security sector is
exclusively vested in the President”. I have also read some legal opinions
giving support to the AGF’s position that the National Assembly cannot summon
the President.
“I want to state that within the precinct of the Nigerian
Constitution, it is a joke to assume that the National Assembly cannot summon
the President. Not only can the National Assembly summon the President, an
ordinary committee of either the Senate or House of Representatives is
empowered by law to summon the President. What the National Assembly cannot do
is to issue a warrant against the President if the President fails to obey the
summons.
“By virtue of Section 89 of the 1999 Constitution, the
National Assembly can summon ANY person in Nigeria to give evidence before it
over any matter that the National Assembly can enact legislation.
“The point to make is that the National Assembly has the
power to enact laws in respect of the armed forces. By that token, the
President who chiefly administers security issues in Nigeria can be summoned by
the National Assembly and even committees of the National Assembly for
questioning.”
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