Immediate past Senate President and chairman of the Eight National Assembly, Bukola Saraki has responded to claims by President Muhammadu Buhari that the 8th Senate did not organize a security summit to tackle the challenges facing the country.
Saraki in a statement on Wednesday by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Yusuph Olaniyonu, as reported by TheNewsGuru, said there is a deliberate attempt to 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.”
Recall that the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, quoted President Muhammadu Buhari 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. But time has proved me right”.
The President was said to have made the claim while receiving the report of the National Security Summit held on May 26, by the 9th House of Representatives from Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila.
However, faulting the statement, Olaniyonu said the 8th Senate, without any prompting from the Presidency, organised a well-attended two-day security summit on February 8 and 12, 2018.
“We need to inform the general public that the 8th Senate, 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.
“Lawan was then Senate Leader and the summit 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.
“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.
“We believe that facts are sacred and opinions are free.
“Therefore, we urge those in charge of representing 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.”
