Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), says the National Assembly lacks the constitutional power to summon President Muhammadu Buhari over security matters.
Malami said this on Wednesday in a statement titled, ‘Buhari’s Summon: NASS Operates Outside Constitutional Bounds.’
House of Representatives had last week invited Buhari over the rising insecurity and the killing of over 43 farmers in Borno State.
President’s social media aide, Lauretta Onochie, had also disclosed that Buhari would appear before a joint session of the National Assembly on Thursday.
But indications emerged on Tuesday that the President may have decided not to attend the meeting any longer.
Malami said security matters remained the exclusive preserve of the Executive arm of government, urging the National Assembly to take cognizance of this.
The AGF said, “The management and control of the security sector is exclusively vested in the President by Section 218 (1) of the Constitution as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces including the power to determine the operational use of the Armed Forces. An invitation that seeks to put the operational use of the Armed Forces to a public interrogation is indeed taking the constitutional rights of law-making beyond bounds.
“As the Commander-in-Chief, the President has exclusivity on security and has confidentiality over security. These powers and rights he does not share. So, by summoning the President on national security operational matters, the House of Representative operated outside constitutional bounds. President’s exclusivity of constitutional confidentiality investiture within the context of the constitution remains sacrosanct.”
He argued that the President could freely choose whenever he wants to address the National Assembly but could not be summoned or compelled by anyone to do so.
Malami said, “Mr. President has enjoyed Constitutional privileges attached to the Office of the President including exclusivity and confidentiality investiture in security operational matters, which remains sacrosanct.”
He stressed that the National Assembly has no “constitutional power to envisage or contemplate a situation where the President would be summoned by the National Assembly on operational use of the Armed Forces.
“The right of the President to engage the National Assembly and appear before it is inherently discretionary in the President and not at the behest of the National Assembly.”
The AGF said Buhari had effectively tackled insecurity and recovered territories occupied by Boko Haram.
He added, “President Muhammadu Buhari of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has recorded tremendous success in containing the hitherto incessant bombing, colossal killings, wanton destruction of lives and property that bedevilled the country before attaining the helm of affairs of the country in 2015.
“The confidentiality of strategies employed by the President as the commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is not open for public exposure in view of security implications in probable undermining of the war against terror.
“The fact that President Muhammadu Buhari was instrumental to the reclaiming of over 14 Local Governments previously controlled by the Boko Haram in North East is an open secret, the strategies for such achievement are not open for public expose.”
Malami, who condoled with the bereaved and sympathised with the victims of insecurity in the country, stated that national security is not about publicity and the nation’s security architecture cannot be exposed just for publicity sake.