Ebun Francis|
Some federal lawmakers under the auspices of the parliamentary support group have broken ranks with their colleagues in the national assembly over the face-off with the executive branch as they on Tuesday evening asked lawmakers who have issues with the law to personally resolve them without dragging the entire assembly into such fights.
A joint session of the house in a closed-door sitting on Tuesday passed a 12 point resolution threatening President Buhari over the actions of his appointees and other national issues.
But in a statement on Tuesday night, hours after the Senate issued the resolution, the dissenting lawmakers, lead by Hon. Abdulmumin Jibril, a member of the house of representatives, said the views expressed at the end of the session were not endorsed by all the lawmakers.
The group said, “Almost all the members and senators that spoke at the executive session are of the PDP while members of the APC declined joining the discussion to avoid a rowdy confrontation as the entire session could easily pass for a PDP executive session.”
While commending Buhari’s efforts on the fight against corruption, the lawmakers asked their colleagues “who have corruption or criminal allegation against him or her should clear his or her name without dragging the entire institution of the national assembly into the matter.”
The group’s full statement…
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY PARLIAMENTARY SUPPORT GROUP
NASS JOINT EXECUTIVE SESSION: OUR POSITION
The Parliamentary Support Group of the Senate and House of Representatives is aware of the joint Executive session of the National Assembly held today and wish to state as follows:
That almost all the members and senators that spoke at the Executive session are of the PDP while members of the APC declined joining the discussion to avoid a rowdy confrontation as the entire session could easily pass for a PDP Executive session
That it is commendable that the Speaker tactically refused to make any comment at the session even after the Senate President took time to explain the issues which are mostly personal
That it is disturbing and raised many questions of pre-determined intentions that a known ally of the Senate President from Kwara State Hon Rasak Atunwa drafted what was adopted as the resolution and without voting against standard parliamentary practice
That most of the issues raised concerning the fight against corruption, insecurity and the rule of law has been severally discussed in the Senate and the House and various resolutions passed
That we commend the efforts of Mr. President in the fight against corruption, tackling of the insecurity challenges and respect for rule of law and democratic institutions. Mr. President is known for his non-interference policy.
That every Senator or Member of House who has corruption or criminal allegation against him or her should clear his or her name without dragging the entire institution of the National Assembly into the matter
That the National Assembly should as well look in ward and address the issue of suffocating Senators and members with dissenting or contrary opinion through coercion or extra-legal means
That the PDP should recall how it members in the 7th Assembly sat comfortably in the chamber and watched a sitting Speaker, Aminu Tambuwal locked out of the National Assembly and all his security personnel withdrawn while APC members had to scale the fence to gain entrance into the National Assembly
That we must exercise caution at this delicate period not to over heat the polity with statements that are capable of dividing the country, embarrassing us before the watching world and creating friction between the legislature, Executive and specifically Mr. President.
We wish to reaffirm our support to Mr. President as he works assiduously towards dealing with the challenges of our country.