President Goodluck Jonathan is not contemplating the suspension of the governors in the three Northern states currently under emergency rule, investigation by The PUNCH has revealed.
Jonathan had on May 14, 2013 declared a six-month state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states following the increasing activities of members of the Islamic sect, Boko Haram.
He also sought and got the National Assembly’s approval to extend the emergency rule in November 2013 for an additional six-month period. The extension expires next month.
There had been media reports that a decision to suspend the three governors – Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Ibrahim Geidam (Yobe), and Kashim Shettima (Borno) – to further allow the emergency rule to work would be taken at a security meeting Jonathan will hold at noon on Thursday (today) with the 36 state governors.
The meeting was shifted from Wednesday because of the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting to allow a full day of heart-to-heart discussion on the security challenges facing the country.
A top government source told our correspondent on the condition of anonymity in Abuja that although the desirability or otherwise of further extending the emergency rule in the affected states would form part of discussion at today’s meeting, the President has no plan to suspend the governors.
The source said suspending the governors was not on the card because the President was aware that such was against the spirit of the nation’s constitution.
He recalled that the decision of former President Olusegun Obasanjo to suspend sitting governors in Plateau and Ekiti states during his tenure was declared illegal by a court.
The source said, “The emergency rule will end in May and not last Saturday as reported. I don’t know where the information came from.
“I am also aware that some people are going about saying the President will suspend the three governors. But I say that is not true. Nothing of such is on the card.
“This President is aware that the 1999 Constitution does not empower him to suspend any governor.
“Obasanjo did it and it was declared illegal by the court though it was belated.
“If you look at the relevant sections of the constitution, you will know that the President can declare a state of emergency in all parts of the country.
Does that mean he will abdicate his office and hand over to a military man?”
Meanwhile, the President’s meeting with the 36 state governors which will also be attended by security chiefs and relevant ministers will now hold on Thursday (today) by 12noon at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Although no official reason was given for the postponement, The PUNCH gathered that there were fears that if held after the FEC meeting, participants might not have enough time to extensively discuss the issues that would arise.
“The President wants a situation where all issues relating to national security would be put on the table and thrashed the same day. So he decided that the meeting should be held tomorrow to give room for more time for discussion,” a top Presidency source explained.
Also in Abuja on Wednesday, the Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, described recent comments attributed to Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa State on security challenges in the country, as highly irresponsible.
Maku said this while answering questions from State House correspondents after the FEC meeting.
Nyako had in a memo to his co-Northern governors accused the Federal Government of carrying out genocide against the North in its fight against insurgency.
But the minister said it was unfortunate that such a statement could come from a person of the governor’s status who had at a time served as the Chief of Naval Staff.
He said a lot of achievements could be made in the anti-terror war if highly-placed people learnt to keep their mouths shut.
Maku warned that unless stakeholders in the North learned to act together, that part of the country would continue to go down while other parts were being developed.
He said, “To hear the kind of things being said by the governor of Adamawa State at this period is very unfortunate. Nyako is a former CNS. He is someone that has worn uniform before.
“For him to publicly incite the people against the security forces of this country is the height of irresponsibility. I believe that for someone like that who is old enough to appreciate the kind of crisis this country is going through, we expect that there should be greater understanding, politics aside.
“When people reach a certain age, they should watch their utterances and the kind of things they are supposed to say. Maybe for young people like you and me we can say lack experience; but for people that have known the difficulty this country is going through and the kind of effort that is being made by the Federal Government to come out and make those statements that divide the country is grossly irresponsible.
“We are expecting that as we move forward, this nation will definitely defeat terror. This is a war by criminals against the entire nation and they know that this crisis originated at local levels.
“The responsibility of maintaining vigilance was right down to the village, the government has links to every hamlets and to every village to know what is happening.
“All those responsibilities have been abandoned. People are not organising people to fight terror. The challenge for all of us in the North is unless we act together, this part of the country is going down and down, while the rest are experiencing growth. And the responsibility of security must be taken seriously.
“People grandstanding, people playing to the gallery, people making inflammatory statements that divide public opinion, that cause confusion, will appear to me as people that are anti-Nigeria. This is the time we expect all our people to speak with one voice, and speak with a voice that give our people hope that we the leaders are united in finding a solution.
“Divisive statements must be condemned at this time and I think that we all have a responsibility to this country.
“Nigeria will surely overcome but we can do the job better with some people shutting up their mouths.”
On the 2014 Budget, Maku said he was not in a position to confirm whether the budget had been transmitted to the President or not.
He expressed the hope that there would be no further delay in sending the budget to the President so that its implementation could start in earnest.