The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, on Wednesday said that the National Assembly has no constitutional power to summon President Muhammadu Buhari on the operational use of the armed forces.
Recall that the House of Representatives had last week resolved to summon Mr Buhari to address them on insecurity and incessant killing of Nigerians by armed gunmen.
But the AGF, in a statement on Wednesday, said the confidentiality of strategies employed by the President is not open for public exposure, in view of security implications in probable undermining of the war against terror.
According to him, the President has recorded “tremendous success in containing the hitherto incessant bombing, colossal killings, wanton destruction of lives and property that bedeviled the country before attaining the helm of affairs of the country in 2015”.
“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,” Mr Malami said.
The AGF added that the President has Constitutional privileges attached to his Office, “including exclusivity and confidentiality investiture in security operational matters, which remains sacrosanct”.
Mr Malami, however, said the right of the President to appear before the lawmakers is “inherently discretionary” and not at their behest.
“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,” Mr Malami added.
