The Deputy President of the Senate, Dr. Ike Ekweremadu, has
denied calling for military intervention in the country, saying
that he was quoted out of context.
Ekweremadu made the denial on Saturday at the Diepreye
Alaimieyeseigha Memorial Banquet Hall, Onopa, Yenagoa, when
Governor Seriake Dickson hosted him and executive members of
Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (Africa Region) to a
dinner.
The deputy Senate President, who maintained that his comments on
the floor of the Senate were misconstrued, insisted that he would
never make derogatory statements against the Nigerian military,
which he noted remains one of the best fighting forces on the
continent.
He stressed that statements made by lawmakers in the course of
their duty should be situated within the proper context before any
form of reaction.
However, the military, through a statement by the Director of
Defence Information, Brig-Gen John Agim, had argued that
Ekweremadu’s comments “in the true sense, has the capacity to
denigrate the Nigerian military in every ramification, including
its loyalty to the President and Commander in-Chief of the Armed
Forces and the confidence of the public to defend Nigeria’s
democracy.”
But Ekweremadu noted that parliamentarians had a duty to
continue to defend democracy in the country, arguing that the
difference between a democracy and a dictatorship is the
parliament, which should, ordinarily, provide direction for the
sustenance of democracy.
He added that his remarks on the floor of the Senate were to
caution his colleagues to avoid the mistakes of the past which he
said led to the abrupt end of the First Republic.
The Deputy President of the Senate, Dr. Ike Ekweremadu, has
denied calling for military intervention in the country, saying
that he was quoted out of context.
Ekweremadu made the denial on Saturday at the Diepreye
Alaimieyeseigha Memorial Banquet Hall, Onopa, Yenagoa, when
Governor Seriake Dickson hosted him and executive members of
Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (Africa Region) to a
dinner.
The deputy Senate President, who maintained that his comments on
the floor of the Senate were misconstrued, insisted that he would
never make derogatory statements against the Nigerian military,
which he noted remains one of the best fighting forces on the
continent.
He stressed that statements made by lawmakers in the course of
their duty should be situated within the proper context before any
form of reaction.
However, the military, through a statement by the Director of
Defence Information, Brig-Gen John Agim, had argued that
Ekweremadu’s comments “in the true sense, has the capacity to
denigrate the Nigerian military in every ramification, including
its loyalty to the President and Commander in-Chief of the Armed
Forces and the confidence of the public to defend Nigeria’s
democracy.”
But Ekweremadu noted that parliamentarians had a duty to
continue to defend democracy in the country, arguing that the
difference between a democracy and a dictatorship is the
parliament, which should, ordinarily, provide direction for the
sustenance of democracy.
He added that his remarks on the floor of the Senate were to
caution his colleagues to avoid the mistakes of the past which he
said led to the abrupt end of the First Republic.