Lawmakers in Nigeria’s parliament issued a series of demands to President Buhari on Tuesday, revolving around security conditions in the oil-rich west African nation. The latest round of difficult relations between the executive and legislative branches of government, months prior to the polls scheduled for early next year.
President Buhari won 2015 elections largely due to his pledge to improve security concerns and rein in corruption in Nigeria. Recent friction between legislators and party members, with some critics questioning his record as his mandate, draws near to its end.
The continent’s number one economy has been plagued with security challenges for quite some time now. The violent threat of Boko Haram and just over the last few months, communal disputes between farmers and herdsmen. Though Buhari being a former no-nonsense military leader, his detractors have taken aim at his anti-corruption campaign which they say have gone only after his opponents.
During a rarely held parliamentary joint session by both chambers, the closed-door meeting came out with resolutions. In one of the 12 decisions arrived at, they ascertain that security services should ”curtail the sustained killings of Nigerians across the country and protect life and properties of Nigerians as this is the primary duty of any responsible government”.
Lawmakers did not shy away from calling out President Buhari to end what they described as the ”systematic harassment and humiliation by the executive of perceived political opponents”.
A warning signal was shot as legislators threatened that ”the National Assembly will not hesitate to evoke its constitutional powers if nothing is done to address the above resolutions passed today”
A spokesperson for the presidential palace could not comment on resolutions arrived at in parliament on Tuesday.
Neba Benson,
BaretaNews Foreign Correspondent/Analyst
