The Senate
President, Bukola Saraki, has said the declaration by the Nigerian military
that the Indigenous People of Biafra is a terrorist organisation is
unconstitutional.
He also
said the ban placed on the group’s activities by the South-East governors did
not follow due process.
However,
the Chief Whip, House of Representatives, Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, has condemned
Saraki, saying the Senate President’s declaration was “a mere political
statement” that portrayed the nation’s Number Three citizen as “a controversial
leader.”
In a
statement on Monday, Saraki said the National Assembly would investigate the
crisis in the South-East.
However,
Saraki commended the military for maintaining the peace in the South-East
but added that their declaration of the group as a terrorist organisation was
unconstitutional.
He said,
“I also wish to state that the announcement of the proscription of the group
known as the Indigenous People of Biafra by the governors of the South-East
states and the categorisation of the group as a ‘terrorist organisation’ by the
Nigerian military are unconstitutional and do not follow due process.”
“Our laws
make clear provisions for taking such actions and without the due process being
followed, such declaration cannot have effect. I am sure the President will do
the needful by initiating the right process.
“This will
go a long way in demonstrating to the world at large that we are a country that
operates by laid down process under every circumstance. So, those who have been
hammering on this point should maintain their cool.”
But
Ado-Doguwa when asked to react to Saraki’s pro-IPOB’s position said, “I am sure
the Senate President was only expressing his personal opinion, which I further
believe was not a good one in the given circumstances. The Nigerian Armed
forces in my opinion are doing their best professionally and in the best
interest of a united Nigeria. Even the south-eastern state governors have
declared the activities of Kanu’s IPOB as illegal and therefore proscribed. He
(Senate President) can’t cry more than the bereaved.
“For me,
the recent comment made by the Senate President on this matter was a mere
political statement that would only portray him as a controversial leader.
Considering the attacks meted out to innocent Nigerians by the IPOB group in
the South-East and indeed the nationalistic conduct of the northern governors
and the prompt action they took to stop possible reprisals in the North, the
Senate President’s statement was to say the least unnecessary.”
Also, the
Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, in an apparent reaction to
Saraki’s position insisted that the declaration of IPOB as a terrorist
organisation was done in accordance with the nation’s constitution.
Buratai
said this at the Nkwegu Military Cantonment Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State
capital, on Monday while inaugurating the “Operation Python Dance11” exercise
for the South-East geopolitical zone.
He said,
“What the Defence Headquarters said was to make a pronouncement, it was not a
declaration, but this has given room for the right step to be taken. I think
the government is doing the right thing, it is not that we overstepped our
bounds, we are still within the limits of the law.
“What the
military said was to set the ball rolling and to bring to the awareness of the
public that this is what this organisation is about. I am happy that the
government has done the right thing rightly.”
What is the cief whip all about? We are talking about democracy and procedure.
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