Abaribe: Armed forces bill was rejected because senators thought it was against Buhari

Enyinnaya Abaribe, senate minority leader, has explained why some of his colleagues in the red chamber rejected his bill that seeks to establish the armed forces commission.

He said on Wednesday that some of the senators erroneously believed the bill was against President Muhammadu Buhari — just as they view everything he says.

In March, Abaribe presented the bill which would ensure that the appointment of service chiefs reflects the principle of federal character.

TheCable had reported how the proposed law caused chaos at the senate as lawmakers argued it would lead to the politicisation of the military.

But speaking when he featured on a Channels Television programme on Wednesday, Abaribe said some of his colleagues have a “default position” that anything he does is against Buhari.

He said: “What happened that day is that we have, among some of my colleagues, a default position; every little thing that you say, they will say, ‘it is against President Buhari and therefore let us say no’.

“Without looking at the content that you have brought out and all they thought is that you wanted to whittle down the powers of President Buhari and that is not what the bill is about.”

The senate minority leader said the proposed law only seeks to carry out what has been stipulated in the 1999 constitution.

“It is a bill that is incumbent upon us at the national assembly to pass, because it is embedded in the constitution – section 219 of the constitution (which talks about ensuring the armed forces reflect the federal character principle),” he added.

“It is a very simple and straightforward bill. All that the bill is about is (to) let us do what it is in the constitution.”