The House of Representatives has apologized to President Muhammadu Buhari for inviting him to address the lawmakers on the security challenges facing the country.
According to Reliable source, the leadership of the House has also shelved any immediate or future plans of asking Buhari to come and explain to lawmakers the rising insecurity in the nation.
Quoting a source in the House, the newspaper said that the invitation had taken ethnic and political dimension, hence the need to drop the topic of inviting the President.
The source noted that some Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lawmakers wanted to use the avenue to cast aspersions on the administration of President Buhari.
He also said it was discovered that some of the lawmakers who sponsored the motion had apologised to the presidency over their insistence that Buhari must appear before them.
According to the source, the lawmakers claimed that their motion was not intended to embarrass the President, contrary to insinuations in some quarters.
The source was quoted to have said, “The House of Representatives has foreclosed or dropped any immediate or future plans to invite President Muhammadu Buhari over insecurity in the country because a harmless motion has become political,”
“I can tell you that we will no longer revisit the invitation. But we will be interacting with service chiefs and other ministers in charge of the nation’s security.
“The opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its lawmakers capitalised on the motion to cast aspersions on the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari. What we never intended became the issue.
“Some governors and strategists in government insinuated that the house leadership was working for a different political interest. That was why they pulled the strings from the senate.
“At a point, the row over the invitation was turned into a north-south divide, if not for the political dexterity of the house leadership.
“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.”
On December 1st, 2020 the House passed a resolution summoning the President, following the killing of more than 70 farmers in Borno State.
The motion was moved by the lawmaker representing Jere Federal Constituency, Satomi Ahmad, and nine others from Borno. The lawmakers had insisted that Buhari should address the House on the government’s efforts to address insecurity in the country.
Thereafter, Speaker of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila, on December 2, after meeting with the President said he had agreed to address the lawmakers.
But the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), had argued that the National Assembly has no constitutional powers to summon the President.
