Emergency Rule: Govs, LG Chairmen to Take Orders from Jonathan

Emergency Rule: Govs, LG Chairmen to Take Orders from Jonathan

 President Goodluck Jonathan

Omololu Ogunmade, Nzeshi Onwuka, Tobi Soniyi, Damilola Oyedele and Onyebuchi Ezigbo  

The National Assembly has conferred more powers on President Goodluck Jonathan to administer the three states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, where he declared a state of emergency last week.

Under the new dispensation, governors and local government chairmen in the three states of the North-east zone will henceforth take orders from the president.

This was the resolve of the National Assembly yesterday as the two chambers of the legislature met to harmonise their positions on the request of the president, seeking approval for the declaration of state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States, which they had earlier ratified.

The two chambers of the National Assembly on Tuesday had approved the presidential declaration but with some differences in terms of details of its implementation. However, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) faulted the new powers conferred on the president and accused him of engaging in deceit by reneging on his promise not to allow the state of emergency to affect the operation of democratic structures in the affected states.

The Amnesty International (AI) also warned the military not to use the excuse of the emergency rule to violate the human rights of those in the affected states.

The conference committee of the two chambers, which harmonised the varying positions of both chambers yesterday, adopted the version of the House of Representatives report that empowers the president to issue directives to the governors as he deems fit. 

At the presentation of the report of the conference committee of both the Senate and the House in Abuja, the committee chairman, Senator Ita Enang, said the committee comprised five members from the Senate and seven from the House.

The report, he added, also authorised the president to take possession of any property or undertaking in the emergency area, provide for application of any law in relation to that area as well as the detention, removal or exclusion of any person from the emergency area.

The president is also empowered to order the arrest and trial of anyone who contradicts his order and make provision for the utilisation of the funds of any state or local government in the emergency area. He is also empowered to authorise the entry and search of any premises as he may deem fit.

“The president may give directions to a state governor or local government chairman directly or through his designate or a duly authorised person with respect to the administration of the emergency area in matters of public order, peace and security only and it shall be the duty of the state governor or local government to comply with the directive. The president may make such orders as appear to him to be necessary or expedient for the purpose of maintaining and securing peace, public order and public safety in the emergency area,” the report said.

It added that the governor or local government chairman in any of the emergency states shall in accordance with the stipulation in the 1999 Constitution, “exercise his functions in accordance with any direction given to him by the president, his designate or any authorised person as it relates to matters of public order, peace and security only.”

The report also adopted the Senate’s version, which orders the president to provide for the protection, documentation, return, re-integration, resettlement, rehabilitation, compensation and remuneration of persons affected by the declaration and as well as provide for the maintenance of supplies and services considered essential to the lives of persons under the emergency rule.

The report, which overrules the trial of anyone by military courts, added that the president shall upon his decision to issue any order, “transmit a copy of the order to each House of the National Assembly for approval and if the National Assembly disallows the order, it shall cease to have effect without any prejudice to anything done thereto,” adding that the president has seven days within which to transmit the order to the legislature.

The conference also explained that the endorsement of the emergency rule was predicated on the Senate version of the report which states that “it is evident that the magnitude of the crises in the affected states and local government areas have overwhelmed the current response measures of the government, leading to total breakdown of order, public safety and security in the affected areas.”

The report was unanimously adopted by the Senate, which was presided over yesterday by the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu.
The House also adopted the harmonised version of the report on the declaration of emergency rule in the three states.

Although, the harmonised version adopted the position of the House in restricting the powers of the president to issues of security, law and order, it  rejected the position of the House that payment of compensation be made to victims of terrorism  before or during  the emergency  proclamation.

Following the adoption of the report, House Speaker, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, said the House would monitor closely the implementation of the emergency rule in the three states to ensure that the troops deployed in the troubled zone observed the rules of engagement as approved by the National Assembly.
He explained that the House had directed its relevant committees to monitor the military operations going on in the three states.

The House has also resolved to  invite the Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Sa’ad Ola Ibrahim, to brief the legislators on a monthly basis to ensure that the parliament was kept abreast of developments in the emergency areas.
Tambuwal told  members of the N-Katalyst Forum that visited him that the legislature would not abdicate its obligations in protecting the  people in the three states under emergency rule.

The group led by Dr Jubril Ibrahim had visited the National Assembly to solicit the support of  the House in prevailing on the federal government to respect human rights  while  combating the insurgency in the affected areas.
Reviewing the new powers just conferred on the president, the ACN  yesterday accused Jonathan of deceiving Nigerians as he had failed to keep his promise not to tamper with democratic structures in the affected states.

In a statement in Kaduna by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the gazette published by the federal government on the declaration of emergency rule showed that the president had undermined the democratic structure and stripped the political office holders of their constitutional responsibilities, thereby reversing the assurances he gave in his speech while announcing the declaration of emergency rule in the three states.

ACN warned that unless this despotic tendency is checked, nothing prevents the president, in the name of the ongoing fight against Boko Haram, from extending this power grab to other states that catch his fancy.

The Amnesty International has also cautioned the federal government against allowing the military to use the state of emergency as an excuse to commit human rights violations.

The human rights organisation noted that many people had been reportedly killed and hundreds arrested since the state of emergency was declared on 14 May.

A statement signed by AI's spokesperson, Katty Pownall, said the military reportedly claimed those targeted were suspected members of Boko Haram.
“Whatever the emergency, a state can never derogate from the fundamental principle of the presumption of innocence," AI said.

It also stated that some 2,400 people had fled the region for neighbouring Niger, citing a statement released last Tuesday by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

"Issues of national security and the state of emergency do not give the military carte blanche to do whatever they want," said Lucy Freeman, AI's Deputy Director for Africa.