Nigeria

Boko Haram: Buhari centre demands resignation of federal lawmaker

Monday, September 30, 2019 at 5:13 PM by Nnenna Ibeh

- A pro-Buhari centre has called for the resignation of Ahmadu Jaha, the lawmaker representing Damboa-Gwoza-Chibok federal constituency at the House of Representatives

- The Buhari Legacy Centre accused Jaha of raising false alarm over the operations of Boko Haram in Borno state

- According to the centre, Jaha - a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was hiding under parliamentary immunity to test how the country will react to the knowledge that terrorists are now openly represented in the National Assembly

The Buhari Legacy Centre on Monday, September 30, called for the resignation of the lawmaker representing, Damboa-Gwoza-Chibok federal constituency at the House of Representatives, Ahmadu Jaha, for his comments over Boko Haram insurgency in Borno state.

Jaha had during a plenary session last Tuesday claimed that Boko Haram insurgents were occupying eight out of 10 local government areas in the northern part of Borno state.

Reacting to Jaha's claim, the BLC said, it wondered why a lawmaker could throw away decorum by raising a false alarm on the alleged occupation of some parts of the state by insurgents.

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Refuting the lawmaker's claims, BLC said, Jaha - a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was hiding under parliamentary immunity to test how the country will react to the knowledge that terrorists are now openly represented in the National Assembly.

Speaking at a conference addressed by its spokesperson, Godwin Apeh, on Monday, September 30, the BLC demanded the immediate resignation of Jaha for openly identifying with the dreaded sect group.

Apeh said: "However, Nigerians did not bargain for the travesty that involves a supposedly elected federal lawmaker defecting to become the de facto representative for Boko Haram in the federal parliament of all places."

"It was equally not conceived that he will attempt to jeopardize the good work that the military is doing by deploying industrial-scale lies and manipulating scanty facts to spin a web of deception," Apeh said.

He also said there are ploys adopted by some notable Nigerians to prevent checks and balances that would have kept the insurgents under control from going haywire and destroy the country.

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"We have grave concerns that these Boko Haram lawmakers have unfettered access to military and intelligence briefings that they become privy to because of their privileged positions," BLC said.

The centre further called on relevant agencies to ensure that immediate steps are taken to address the political arm of Boko Haram.

Apeh said these steps should be targetted at identifying other pro-Boko Haram lawmakers in the National Assembly and prevent them from legalizing Boko Haram in national documents and to also prevent them from allocating any portion of Nigeria to terrorists.

It should also target the investigations on the finances of politicians in the northeast to ensure that the terrorists are starved.

"Additionally, we call on the ICPC to investigate constituency projects executed by these lawmakers from the northeast in the last eight years. The objective of this is to verify that the money meant for such projects were not channelled into buying weapons for terrorists, arranging logistics for them and providing training for the insurgents."