Following President Muhammadu Buhari’s recent admission that Nigeria has joined the 34-member Saudi Arabia-led coalition fighting Islamic terrorism, members of the National Assembly have disowned the move.
The members insist that President Buhari did not seek the approval of the National Assembly before the government made such a weighty international commitment in the name of the country.
The Office of the President of the Senate denied knowledge or endorsement of Nigeria’s membership of the Saudi-led coalition.
The Special Adviser to the President of the Senate on Media and Publicity, Yusuph Olaniyonu, said he had no knowledge of a presidential communication to his principal either privately or officially on Nigeria’s membership of the Saudi Arabia coalition against the Islamic terrorists.
He explained that if there had been such a correspondence from the presidency under “Letter from President Muhammadu Buhari,” it would have been read at the floor of the Senate before now.
Reacting to the issue, a member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Oghene Emma Egoh, representing Amuwo Odofin Federal Constituency of Lagos State, denied any knowledge of the National Assembly’s approval of the purported membership of the Saudi Arabia-led coalition against terrorism.
President Buhari had attributed the reasons behind the move to claims that some terrorists in Nigeria have confirmed that they are Muslims.
NAIJ
