President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday requested the approval of the Senate to extend the State of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States for another six months with effect from November 12.
In the letter to the Senate President David Mark, Jonathan said the extension of the emergency rule for was necessitated by some security challenges in some parts of the three troubled states.
The six months extension may have put to rest renewed lobby by the governors of the affected states for possible withdrawal of soldiers from the troubles states on or before November when the emergency rule expected to expired.
Governors Murtalla Nyako of Adamawa state, Shettima Kasim of Borno and Ibrahim Gidem of Yobe states respectively were alleged to have recently intensified their lobby to end emergency rule in the three states November 12.
The extension if approved by the Senate will however take effect from November 12, exactly six months after the state of emergency was first p[proclaimed by the prudent in the three states.
President had accordance with section 305 (6) (c) proclaimed a state of emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe May this year following a near collapse of peace and order occasioned by the activities of the sect. President Jonathan in the letter declared that government expect ‘normalcy to be fully restored during the six months of extension’
The president’s letter read: “As a result of the laudable efforts of security agencies and the support of the citizens in the affected states, we have achieved considerable successes in containing the activities of terrorist elements. However, some security challenges still exist in a few parts
“Consequently, it has become pertinent to request the approval of the Senate for an extension of the state of emergency for a further period of six months, during which time it is expected that normalcy would have been fully restored”.
It would be recalled that some northern senators were opposed to emergency rule in the three states when it was first presented to the National Assembly by the president for approval. There are however fears that the request for extension for another period of six months may not go down well with the northern lawmakers.