Nigeria’s House of Representatives has denied reports it apologised to President Muhammadu Buhari over the resolution inviting him to brief the parliament on the state of security in the country.
Spokesman of the lower chamber Benjamin Kalu in a statement on Monday said the house did not apologise to the president for exercising its constitutional mandate.
The House had on December 1 passed a resolution summoning the president, following the killing of more than 40 farmers in Zabamari, Borno state.
But Abubakar Malami, the Attorney-general of the Federation (AGF), said the National Assembly lacked the constitutional powers to summon the Nigerian leader.
A section of the media in a report on Sunday quoted a source to have said: “We also got intelligence that some of those lawmakers who sponsored the motion because of Zabamari rice farmers went through the back door to the presidency to apologise over their insistence that the president must appear before the national assembly”.
But Kalu in the statement said: “It has come to the knowledge of the house that few sections of the media reported that House apologized to the Presidency over the resolutions of the House which arose from the motion sponsored by members from Borno State, requesting for the invitation of the President to brief the nation on the state of insecurity in the country.
“The President or the Presidency as the case may be, never sought for an apology from the House of representatives for carrying out her constitutional responsibility to the Nigerian electorate. Where then did the media get the report that the House as an institution apologized to anyone? Media professionals are advised to uphold the ethics of their profession.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the House never apologized to anyone for exercising her constitutional mandate and the 9th assembly of the House of Representatives under the leadership of Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila will not do anything to desecrate or destroy the critical institution of democracy – the Legislature. We strongly believe that President Muhammadu Buhari subscribes to these democratic ethos and ideals as well.”
By Abel Ejikeme