Spokesman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2019 election, Segun Sowunmi, has faulted President Muhammadu Buhari for failing to appear before the National Assembly over matters of insecurity in the country.
Sowumi believes that the president is being over protected and the government is now creating an impression that they are a “coven of dark forces who are not willing to be seen in the light”.
Speaking on Wednesday on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Sowumi noted that beyond the president’s failure to appear before the NASS, the real issue is a consistent pattern of failing to address Nigerians whenever the need arises.
“If the president doesn’t go, the heavens will not fall,” Sowumi said, adding “but we are saying that there is a pattern here and we practically had to beg him to speak to the Nigerian youths (during the EndSARS protests).
According to him, having a conversation with Nigerians, however little, goes a long way to inspire hope.
“That presidential conversation could infuse hope. Do you know the power of just the president infusing hope, saying “I’m on it and for some I can tell you this, some I cannot tell you…but be rest assured that this is what is happening”.
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Farouq Aliyu, who was also on the programme said the President is not bound to honour an invitation by the National Assembly over the security situation in the country.
“President Buhari is not an orator,” Aliyu said, adding that if he were to advise the president, he would tell him not to go but rather send his service chiefs.
Responding to the comments, Sowumi faulted the fact that the government was always creating an impression that the president does not know how to talk.
“No one should come and give us the impression that he doesn’t even know how to talk. He can be guided, the people who will ask the questions can be screened.
“We are protecting the presidency too much and creating the impression that the Buhari presidency is a clone or cocoon or coven of very dark forces who are not willing to be seen in the light,” he said.
This comes hours after the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, in a statement said the National Assembly has no constitutional power to summon the President.
He also noted 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.”
Members of the House of Representatives on December 1, passed a resolution to invite President Buhari to brief the house on the true state of the security situation in the country.
The decision to summon President Buhari was taken at plenary when the House considered a motion moved by members from Borno State on the recent massacre of 43 rice farmers in the state by Boko Haram insurgents.
In response to this, the President’s Personal Assistant on Social Media, Lauretta Onochie announced on Monday, December 7 that the President will address a joint session of the National Assembly. Channels Tv
