Reps spokesman: We didn’t summon Buhari to ridicule him

Benjamin Kalu, spokesman of the house of representatives, says the invitation of President Muhammadu Buhari to the national assembly was not aimed at ridiculing him.

On December 1, the house summoned Buhari over the killing of farmers in Borno state by Boko Haram fighters.

The summon of the president generated a rowdy session as some lawmakers rejected the move while others insisted that the president must appear before the house.

On December 2, Femi Gbajamiala, the speaker, announced that the president had agreed to meet with the lower legislative chamber of the national assembly.

However, the hope of Buhari’s appearance was dashed on Wednesday, after Abubakar Malami, attorney-general of the federation (AGF), argued that the national assembly does not have the power to summon the president over his control of the armed forces.

Reacting to the development, Kalu, while speaking to journalists on Thursday in Abuja, said the house invited the president to engage him and seek solutions to the rising insecurity in the country.

The reps spokesman said the president is not bigger than his party, since the majority of members of the house are from the All Progressive Congress (APC), the same party of the president.

“The president is not more powerful than the party, but if he took a decision and his party took another, he must obliged the party,”  NAN quoted Kalu to have said.