Former President of the Senate, Abubakar Bukola Saraki, has dismissed as misleading claims by President Muhammadu Buhari that the 8th National Assembly failed to hold any summit to address security challenges in the country.
He lamented that the President chose to mislead Nigerians on such a sensitive matter which facts were known to Nigerians.
In a statement signed by his media adviser, Yusuf Olaniyonu, the former Senate President said he “noted with dismay the claim contained in the seventh paragraph of a press statement released on Tuesday, July 13, 2021 and signed by Femi Adesina, Special Adviser to the President (Media and Publicity), in which President Muhammadu Buhari was quoted as saying that he ‘tried very hard to get the 8th (National) Assembly to do same (organise a security summit) for the sake of the country and I didn’t succeed much. But time has proved me right”.
The President was said to have made the claim while receiving the report of the National Security Summit held on May 26, 2021 by the 9th House of Representatives from Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila.
According to Saraki, “On a matter as sensitive and important in the scale of constitutional responsibilities of the legislature like security, it will be irresponsible of us not to state the true situation concerning the claim by the Presidency. We need to inform the general public that the 8th Senate, without any prompting from the Presidency, organised a well attended two-day security summit on February 8 and 12, 2018.”
He disclosed: “The Security Summit was organised by the adhoc committee of the 8th Senate on the review of the security infrastructure headed by incumbent Senate President, Dr. Ahmed Lawan, who was then Senate Leader and it held at the Nigeria Air Force Conference Centre, Kado, Abuja. The Summit was declared open by the incumbent Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo.”
He stated that after the report of the summit was adopted by the Senate in the chamber, the 20-point recommendation was officially forwarded to the President for consideration and necessary action.
He decried “recent trend in which some sources deliberately push out false narratives aimed at shifting blames and passing the buck arising from the security and other challenges confronting the country on the 8th National Assembly. We urge discerning members of the public to always take their time to properly check the veracity of the claims contained in such narratives.”
He added: “We believe that facts are sacred and opinions are free. Therefore, we urge those in charge of re-presenting the views of the President to the public to always check their facts very diligently and ensure that such reports are based on truth and nothing but the truth.”
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