The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has,however, described the declaration of a state of emergency in the three states as lacking in original thinking, and therefore asked the National Assembly toreject it.
In a statement issued in Abuja yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said if the use of force was capable of ending the Boko Haram crisis, it would have ended a long time ago. It said while the President was right in expressing outrage over the mindless killings and wanton destructionby the insurgents, he was wrong in proposing more of the same measures that have failed to yield results. “If the medicine given to a patient has not cured his or her illness,
is it not futile to prescribe more of the same medicine forthe patient? If the declaration of a state of emergency in 15 local government areas in four states in 2011 has not curbed the activities of the insurgents, why extend such measure to other areas…? “Secondly, the President should go ahead and disband the committee he recently inaugurated and saddled with reaching out to the insurgents, because by opting to flood the states with more troops under an ill-advised emergency rule, he has succeeded in pulling the carpet from under the Committee’s feet. Who negotiates genuinely with a gun to his head? The committee’s job is over, the members can as well pack up and go home. “Thirdly, one hopes the President’s action is not linked to the politics of 2015. With the three states militarized, there can neither be electioneering campaign nor voting there. We had warned earlier that as 2015 approaches,the Jonathan Administration will increasingly take measures that will make it impossible to hold election in many states. The over militarization of some states in the north, the plan to destabilise the South-west using slush funds from the so-called oil pipeline protection contract and the infantile threats from some Niger Delta militants seem to be part of this plan. “Fourthly, what happens if and when thedeclaration of emergency rule fails to stem the violence, now that the President has gone for broke and played his last card? “In view of the reasons stated above, wehereby reject the declaration of emergency rule in the three states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, and we call on the National Assembly to also reject it and not allow itself to be used to rubber stamp a declaration that is largely cosmetic.”
is it not futile to prescribe more of the same medicine forthe patient? If the declaration of a state of emergency in 15 local government areas in four states in 2011 has not curbed the activities of the insurgents, why extend such measure to other areas…? “Secondly, the President should go ahead and disband the committee he recently inaugurated and saddled with reaching out to the insurgents, because by opting to flood the states with more troops under an ill-advised emergency rule, he has succeeded in pulling the carpet from under the Committee’s feet. Who negotiates genuinely with a gun to his head? The committee’s job is over, the members can as well pack up and go home. “Thirdly, one hopes the President’s action is not linked to the politics of 2015. With the three states militarized, there can neither be electioneering campaign nor voting there. We had warned earlier that as 2015 approaches,the Jonathan Administration will increasingly take measures that will make it impossible to hold election in many states. The over militarization of some states in the north, the plan to destabilise the South-west using slush funds from the so-called oil pipeline protection contract and the infantile threats from some Niger Delta militants seem to be part of this plan. “Fourthly, what happens if and when thedeclaration of emergency rule fails to stem the violence, now that the President has gone for broke and played his last card? “In view of the reasons stated above, wehereby reject the declaration of emergency rule in the three states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, and we call on the National Assembly to also reject it and not allow itself to be used to rubber stamp a declaration that is largely cosmetic.”
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