Former Senate President Bukola Saraki has faulted the claim by President Muhammadu Buhari that the eighth (National) Assembly did not organize a security summit despite his (Buhari) efforts to make them do so, saying that there was, indeed, a “well- attended two-day Security Summit” organized by the eighth Assembly on February 8 and 12, 2018 – and that “without any prompting from the Presidency.”
The president, in a press statement released on Tuesday, July 13, 2021 by his spokesman, Mr. Femi Adesina, had been quoted as saying that he “tried very hard to get the 8th (National) Assembly to do same (organise a security summit) for the sake of the country and I didn’t succeed much.”
President Buhari was said to have made the remarks while receiving the report of the National Security Summit held on May 26, 2021 by the 9th House of Representatives from Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila.
But Saraki’s media office said the eighth Assembly under his leadership “without any prompting from the Presidency, organised a well-attended two-day Security Summit on February 8 and 12, 2018.”
“The Security Summit was organised by the ad hoc committee of the 8th Senate on the Review of the Security Infrastructure headed by incumbent Senate President, Dr. Ahmed Lawan, who was then Senate Leader; and it held at the Nigeria Air Force Conference Centre, Kado, Abuja.
“The Summit was declared open by the incumbent Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo. Also, the leadership of the Armed Forces and other security agencies were all present at the closed-door deliberations,” a statement by the Media Office, signed by Yusuph Olaniyonu, said.
It added that after the report of the summit was adopted by the Senate in the chamber, the 20-point recommendation was officially forwarded to the President for consideration and necessary action.
“The Media Office of Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki is constrained to make the above clarification for posterity sake because we have noticed the recent trend in which some sources deliberately push out false narratives aimed at shifting blames and passing the buck arising from the security and other challenges confronting the country on the 8th National Assembly.
“We urge discerning members of the public to always take their time to properly check the veracity of the claims contained in such narratives,” Olaniyonu said.
The president, in a press statement released on Tuesday, July 13, 2021 by his spokesman, Mr. Femi Adesina, had been quoted as saying that he “tried very hard to get the 8th (National) Assembly to do same (organise a security summit) for the sake of the country and I didn’t succeed much.”
President Buhari was said to have made the remarks while receiving the report of the National Security Summit held on May 26, 2021 by the 9th House of Representatives from Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila.
But Saraki’s media office said the eighth Assembly under his leadership “without any prompting from the Presidency, organised a well-attended two-day Security Summit on February 8 and 12, 2018.”
“The Security Summit was organised by the adhoc committee of the 8th Senate on the Review of the Security Infrastructure headed by incumbent Senate President, Dr. Ahmed Lawan, who was then Senate Leader; and it held at the Nigeria Air Force Conference Centre, Kado, Abuja.
“The Summit was declared open by the incumbent Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo. Also, the leadership of the Armed Forces and other security agencies were all present at the closed-door deliberations,” a statement by the Media Office, signed by Yusuph Olaniyonu, said.
It added that after the report of the summit was adopted by the Senate in the chamber, the 20-point recommendation was officially forwarded to the President for consideration and necessary action.
“The Media Office of Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki is constrained to make the above clarification for posterity sake because we have noticed the recent trend in which some sources deliberately push out false narratives aimed at shifting blames and passing the buck arising from the security and other challenges confronting the country on the 8th National Assembly.
“We urge discerning members of the public to always take their time to properly check the veracity of the claims contained in such narratives,” Olaniyonu said.
The Office also advised those in charge of re-presenting the views of the president to the public to always check their facts very diligently “and ensure that such reports are based on truth and nothing but the truth.”