Some senators supporting Buhari blindly —Sen Abaribe
Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe, who represents Abia South in the National Assembly, has clarified why his bill to create an Armed Forces Service Commission, which created a stir in the Senate, was rejected.
He bemoaned the fact that some of his colleagues had a default stance on something involving President Muhammadu Buhari, and that they would not even look at a bill if they felt it influenced the president in any way, instead voting against it outright.
Senators from the APC such as Ovie Omo-Agege, Abdullahi Adamu, Adamu Aliero, and Mohammed Bulkachuwa opposed the bill, while PDP senators such as Emmanuel Bwacha, Chukwuka Utazi, and James Manager endorsed it.
Although proponents of the bill claimed it was intended to create a constitutional clause enabling the National Assembly to form the Armed Forces Service Commission, APC senators claimed it was intended to restrict the President’s powers.
However, in an interview on Channels TV’s Politics Today on Wednesday, Abaribe confirmed that he is not considering ‘altering’ the bill and that he plans to reintroduce it.
“People didn’t realize what the bill was about; it’s a bill that the National Assembly is obligated to enact because it’s enshrined in section 219 of the constitution.
“And it is a very clear and straightforward bill, but what happened that day was that we have a default position among some of my colleagues, where they say oh, he is against President Buhari for all you say. Okay, without looking at the content, let’s say no.
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“And what they saw was that we were trying to limit President Buhari’s authority, which is not what the bill is about. The bill’s sole purpose was to enable us to carry out the constitution’s provisions.”
Citing the constitution, he said the bill talks about three specific sections of 217, 218, and 219.
Meanwhile, Abaribe stated that the bill sought to create the Armed Forces Service Commission in order to ensure that the composition/appointment of Service Chiefs of the Armed Forces of the Federation reflected the Federal Character of Nigeria in accordance with Section 217 (3) of the 1999 Constitution.
He acknowledged that President Buhari’s appointments of service chiefs and other security agencies were seen as lopsided, and he stated that he wanted to re-present the bill, adding that it was the only reason he had stood it down.
