Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has expressed support for the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, on the possibility of declaring state of emergency in Anambra if killings persist in the state.
Malami had hinted on Wednesday that the Federal Government would not rule out the option of declaring a state of emergency in Anambra given the violence in the state ahead of the Nov. 6 governorship poll in the state.
Speaking to the News Agency of Nigeria yesterday in Abuja, Mohammed said Malami’s position was to avert a constitutional crisis in the state.
He said no government would fold its arms and allow the pillar of democracy to be destroyed.
“The forthcoming election in the state is one of the pillars of democracy. Those who are criticising the AGF on this, have they thought for one minute what will happen if election does not take place in Anambra State on Nov. 6?
“They should bear in mind that under our constitution, a governor cannot spend an extra day beyond the mandate of four years. What will happen will be constitutional crisis of immense proportion,’’ he said
The minister recalled that during previous democratic dispensations, state of emergency was declared in Ekiti and Plateau States.
He said what was happening in Anambra currently was worse than what happened in Plateau and Ekiti when state of emergency was declared.
On the position of some critics that government did not declare state of emergency in Zamfara, Katsina and Kaduna where they alleged there were more killings, the minister said the situation was not the same with Anambra
“You do not compare apples with oranges, the bandits in Katsina do not want to leave Nigeria.
“They do not want to declare their own republic and they’re not saying there’ll be no elections. They’re primarily criminals.
“It’s a disingenuous argument to say they’ve killed more people in Katsina, Zamfara and Kaduna than they killed in Anambra.
“What is happening in Katsina, Zamfara, Kaduna and Niger is criminality and government will not condone it.
“I’ve not seen the bandits hoist any flag anywhere as opposed to Boko Haram. Until they were dislodged in Bama they set up their own government, collecting taxes,’’ he said.
The minister added that if there is any need to declare state of emergency in Zamfara, Katsina and Kaduna States, the government would not hesitate to do so.
(NAN)
