Senate approves President's request to extend State of Emergency in Adamawa, Borno, Yobe

The Senate on Thursday approved the request by President Goodluck Jonathan to extend the state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states for another six months.

Jonathan sent a letter to the bicameral National Assembly on Wednesday requesting for an extension of the state of emergency on the grounds that although there was relative peace, more time was needed to restore absolute peace.

The Senate on resumption of plenary on Thursday, went into a closed door session to consider the request and subsequently approved it.

It also decided to invite service chiefs and the supervising Minister of Foreign Affairs, Viola Onwuliri, to further brief senators on the impact the state of emergency has had on the three states.

The Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba (PDP-Cross River) had in a motion entitled 'Request for Extension of State of Emergency' recalled that the Senate passed a resolution on May 21, following which the president declared a state of emergency in the three states.

This declaration was to curb militant insurgency and restore peace in the three states of northeast Nigeria.

Ndoma-Egba said the approval of the extension was based on the same terms and conditions that were earlier approved and gazetted.

He said the minister of foreign affairs was invited to explain how the insurgents always drove in a convoy into the country from neighbouring countries and only operated while in the country.

He said there were diplomatic issues involved, hence the invitation of the foreign affairs minister.

Also on  Thursday the Senate passed the N315.8 billion 2013 budget of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

The Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, who presided over the plenary session, decried the continuous late presentation of the budget estimates by the commission and its subsequent late passage.

He advised the NDDC to ensure that it submitted its budget early enough to enhance quick passage and to enable implementing agencies to execute the budget on time.

The upper chamber also deferred receiving the Minister of Aviation, Ms Stella Oduah, to explain her involvement in a car purchase scandal rocking the aviation industry.

The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Aviation, Hope Uzodinma (PDP-Imo) told newsmen that the decision was not to shield the minister but rather to ensure that the senate president presided over the session.

The senate had invited Oduah after the last plane crash to brief it on the state of the aviation sector and the high number of aviation accidents.

Also, following a letter from the president to present the 2014 budget estimates to a joint session of the National Assembly, the Senate resolved to sit in a joint session with the House of Representatives on Nov. 12.