Emergency Rule: Don’t touch states, LG funds, Northern Senators urge Jonathan

BARELY three weeks after the 109 Senators took a position to back the declaration of State of Emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States by President Goodluck Jonathan, Northern Senators, Wednesday, renounced their decision urging the President not to touch the funds of states and local governments in the affected states.


The senators who said that they were concerned about the wellbeing of the people, however, called on the President not to touch the funds of the states or withhold any part of it.

Rising from an emergency meeting, yesterday, the senators who met under the aegis, Northern Senators’ Forum noted that it became imperative to take the latest decision having assessed developments in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States with regard to the emergency rule.

Addressing Journalists at the end of the meeting, chairman of the forum, Senator Umaru Dahiru, PDP, Sokoto South, who noted that the forum was in concurrence with resolutions reached on the floor of the Senate on the proclamation of the state of emergency in the three states, however said: “As concerned senators from the northern end, we felt we should be monitoring from time to time what goes on and what goes out regarding the emergency and it is in this regard we decided to have a meeting today and reached these resolutions.

“The forum, after an exhaustive deliberation on the security of the people of the affected states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, in particular and Nigeria in general, resolved and concurred with the resolution of the National Assembly that the statutory allocation of the affected states and local governments are paid in full as and when due and no part of it whatsoever should be withheld.”

Also speaking, Deputy Leader of the Senate, Senator Abdul Ningi, PDP, Bauchi Central explained that the forum was out to emphasise the resolutions of both chambers of the National Assembly on the emergency rule, adding that the resolution bordered on the fact that all the democratic institutions in the affected were not touched and that “no funds of the states and local governments is supposed to be touched because the states are already enmeshed in some financial difficulty.

“Touching any of their monies will mean more difficulty on the part of the governments to run their states, and more difficulty for the people of the states and that is why we must send a clear signal to the Federal Government to concur with the resolution of the Senate.”