The call by Chief Edwin Clark for President Goodluck Jonathan to declare a
\ntotal State of Emergency in Adamawa , Borno and Yobe States have been
\ncondemned by Governor Murtala Nyako of Adamawa and his Yobe State
\ncounterpart Alhaji Ibrahim Gaidam.<\/p>\n
Nyako and Gaidam described the call as an attempt\u00a0 to sabotage the nations
\ndemocracy.<\/p>\n
In a statement Issued by spokesmen of both governors –\u00a0 Ahmad Sajoh for
\nNyako and Abdullahi Bego for Gaidam stated that the comment “is
\nunthoughtful, provocative, diversionary, totally out of sync with
\ndemocratic norms and values and unfortunate”.<\/p>\n
“The comments made by Mr. Edwin Clark last Thursday on the security
\nsituation in the northeast have come to the notice of their\u00a0 Excellences
\nGovernors Ibrahim Gaidam of Yobe State and Admiral Murtala Nyako of
\nAdamawa State.<\/p>\n
“Chief Edwin Clark was quoted as calling on President Goodluck Jonathan to
\ndeclare what he called \u2018a total state of emergency\u2019 in the three states of
\nYobe, Borno and Adamawa, suspend all democratic structures and appoint
\nsole administrators to run the affairs of the states. Mr. Godswill
\nAkpabio, governor of Akwa Ibom state was also reported by sections of the
\nmedia to have made similar comments.<\/p>\n
According to the governors,” The phrase \u2018sole administrator\u2019, as noted by
\nmany commentators, is a \u2018constitutional aberration which cannot be found,
\neven impliedly, in any of the 320 sections of the 1999 Constitution\u2019. Mr.
\nClark\u2019s comments (and indeed Mr. Akpabio\u2019s) therefore smack of fascism and
\nare clearly a veiled attempt at sabotaging our nation\u2019s democracy which
\nshould be resisted by all and sundry.<\/p>\n
“Chief\u00a0 Clark made a very serious analytical faux pas when he tried to
\nliken the security situation in Yobe, Borno and Adamawa States with the
\nsituation in Ekiti state when an emergency rule was declared in that state
\nduring a previous administration. The situation between now and then could
\nnot be more different.<\/p>\n
“As a former senator, Mr. Clark would ordinarily be assumed to understand
\nthe meaning of the provisions of section 305 of the 1999 Constitution
\nwhich gives the President the power to declare a state of emergency in all
\nor parts of the country. One would also assume that Mr. Clark would know
\nthat a state of emergency is also not exclusively applicable to security
\nsituations.<\/p>\n
“That Mr. Clark would gladly and blindly ignore overriding legal opinion
\nand historical contexts and suggest something that goes against the letter
\nand spirit of our Constitution as a democratic nation go to show that not
\nonly is he not wishing Mr. President well; he in fact is bent on scuttling
\nour democracy apparently in pursuit of totally parochial, ethnic and
\npolitical agenda.<\/p>\n
Mr. Clark also demonstrated crass ignorance and insensitivity to the
\nplight of people in the northeast by suggesting that somehow the missing
\nChibok school girls would not have been kidnapped if Borno State was under
\na \u2018total state of emergency\u2019.<\/p>\n
Is Chief Clark not aware that over the past 12 months, there was all
\nmanner of security presence in the three states when we witnessed some of
\nthe most heinous and despicable terrorist attacks on our schools in
\nMamudo, Buni Yadi and Gujba and on our towns and villages from Izge to
\nBaga?<\/p>\n
Their Excellences Governors Gaidam and Nyako therefore reject and condemn
\nin their totality the anti-democratic sentiments expressed by Mr. Edwin
\nClark. The governors call on Mr. Clark, now in his 80\u2019s, to use his age
\nand experience by contributing to the peace and unity of the nation rather
\nthan\u00a0 stoking tensions and being a voice for division and disunity.<\/p>\n
“The governors also call on Nigerians to discountenance Mr. Clark\u2019s
\nunstatesmanlike and unfortunate comments and to continue to support the
\nbroad based effort aimed at addressing the security challenges currently
\nfacing the country”.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The call by Chief Edwin Clark for President Goodluck Jonathan to declare a total State of Emergency in Adamawa , Borno and Yobe States have been condemned by Governor Murtala…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25882,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n