Malami: NASS lacks power to summon President

Omo-Agege backs AGF as Ozekhome, Ojaomo kick

TRACKING____The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN) has declared that the National Assembly lacks the power to summon President Muhammadu Buhari to address the House of Representatives on the spate of insecurity in the country.

Buhari had earlier stated that he would honour the House’s invitation to address it on insecurity in the country. However, Malami, in statement yesterday, said that National Assembly lacked the constitutional power to summon the President to appear before it. According to Malami, “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.

“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 management and control of the security sector is exclusively vested in the President by Section 218 (1) of the Constitu-tion 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 mat-ters, the House of Representatives operated outside constitutional bounds. President’s exclusivity of constitutional confidentiality investiture within the context of the constitution remains sacrosanct.” However, some lawyers yesterday kicked against Malami’s position. A Senior Advocate of Nigeria and constitutional lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome said such position is a misplaced priority and creation of self-history.

“It is right and ethical for Buhari to appear and address the National Assembly on the state of the nation. “National Assembly has the constitutional power as enshrined in Section 5 of the 1999 Constitution. It has the power to make law for peace and order, good governance of the country or any part with respect to any matter. “By Sections 88 and 89, the NASS has the power of oversight function over any person or arm of government.

“Therefore, it is wrong for Malami to say the NASS lacks power to summon the President. The President should attend in the best interest of the country.” Another lawyer, Tosin Ojaomo, said that: “Section 67(1) of CFRN which states that the president may attend the joint sitting of the National Assembly on matters of national importance is mandatory.

“The Court of Appeal has held that where the word ‘may’ is used in discharge of a public act, it shall be construed as shall, so it is not a choice that the president may choose to attend or not, the resolution of the House inviting the president is binding and subsisting.” But Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege, a lawyer, while fielding questions from journalists on the issue, said that the Constitution created three equal arms of government, and that the grand norm did not envisage that one arm of government would be summoning the head of another co-equal arm of government to come and offer explanation on the floor.

He said: “I am a constitutionalist. I believe that we are operating a presidential system of government. I believe in the concept of the separation of powers. We have three equal arms of government. The framers of our constitution did not envisage that one arm of government will be summoning the head of another co-equal arm of government to come and offer explanation on the floor. “I think those of you who are familiar with the constitutional process, I don’t think you’ve ever heard that the U.S. parliament had ever invited their president to appear before the House of Representatives or the U.S. Senate unless for the purpose of budget or to address the state of the nation.

“In any event, we also have the concept of executive privilege. The executive arm of government has the power to claim executive privilege at any time any of such invitations is extended. It is not envisaged by the framers of the constitution that a day will come where the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, who heads the executive arm, would be asked to come and testify in the House of Representatives or the Senate. I do not also support that. I don’t believe that the President should come.”