Ninth Assembly: Buhari's move to handpick leaders, cripple NASS must be stopped - HURIWA

Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, has expressed fears that the coming ninth session of the National Assembly is at the verge of being hijacked by the All Progressives Congress, APC-led executive arm of government.

HURIWA called on all lovers of democracy to monitor the activities of their elected legislators at all levels.

This was contained in a statement to DAILY POST on Tuesday by the national coordinator of the group, comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko.

The group said it has “generated a corpus of high net intelligence from elected legislators of all genres.

“The signals [we have] received points to a pre-determined plot by President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure the inauguration of a fully choreographed and rubber -stamped legislature that would be led by mostly individuals with past misdeeds which might be used as instruments of blackmail by heads of security forces and the anti-graft institutions slavishly loyal to the president.”

The human rights writers, also sounded the alarm bell that “in much of the 36 states there are plots to cripple the independence of the state legislature and make the lawmakers subservient to the whims and caprices of the governors.”

HURIWA said Nigerians are obliged to resist this satanic machination of the President and governors to turn Nigeria into a full banana Republic.

The group said the time is almost running out to stop this devilish scheme to enslave the entirety of Nigerians.

HURIWA cited sections 4 and chapter 5 beginning from sections 47 of the constitution as those which envisages separation of power and autonomy of the legislature from the executive arm in the elections of their respective leaders for both chambers of the national assembly.

It added, “Specifically, section 47. Provides thus, ‘There shall be a National Assembly for the Federation which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives.

50. (1) There shall be:-
(a) a President and a Deputy President of the Senate, who shall be elected by the members of that House from among themselves; and (b) a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, who shall be elected by the members of that House from among themselves.”



(Daily Post News Nigeria)