Insecurity: Desperate Malami schemes for State-of-Emergency

Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami is said to have lobbied President Muhammadu Buhari to declare a state of emergency across Nigeria in order to nip in the bud the rising insecurity in the country.

In a leaked memo by Peoples Gazette, dated May 4, 2021, Malami advised President Buhari to declare a state of emergency as the present democratic techniques cannot solve the insecurity crisis in the country.

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The memo was endorsed to the president by National Security Adviser Babagana Monguno and administration officials are divided on how to proceed with the advice.

Malami cited widespread acts of insecurity and blamed prominent separatist agitators like Sunday Igboho and Nnamdi Kanu for fueling the protracted crisis that has enveloped the country and aggravated the social and economic conditions of Nigerians.

According to him, only a state of emergency promulgated by the president can help return the country to tranquility.

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“The essence of declaration is to allow for suspension of constitutional and legal bureaucratic bottlenecks pertaining to matters of National Security with particular regards to fundamental rights guaranteed under Chapter IV of the 1999 Constitution and processes and procedures relating to procurements, among others,” the attorney-general said.

Malami said the president should issue instruments of emergency and publish them in the federal gazette. Senate President Ahmed Lawan and Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila will be informed about the decision ahead of implementation, he added.

“To douse probable legal tension, it is important for the proclamation instrument of the statement of emergency to expressly provide for the suspension of Chapter IV of the 1999 Constitution and its attendant enforcement rules,” Mr Malami wrote.

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“The suspension of rights pertaining to matters of national security will then give legal backing for the proclamation of the statement of emergency to be operational and effective without litigious or judicial distractions.”

The Buhari administration has been conflicted over widespread chaos that threatens to define his eight-year leadership as a democratically-elected leader. His administration is the fourth since Nigeria returned to democracy in 1999 following years of military dictatorship.