Nigerian parliament rejects extension of emergency rule in northern states

The Nigerian House of Representatives on Thursday rejected the request by President Goodluck Jonathan to further extend the emergency rule in the three northeastern states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe.

The lower chamber of the parliament resolved that the government should rely on the provisions of the constitution to deploy military personnel to further combat insurgency in the affected region, Mohammed Zakari, spokesperson for the parliament told reporters shortly after the House ended its executive session.

"We have not extended the emergency rule, rather we have asked the president to rely on section 8 of the Armed Forces Act which empowers him to deploy the military to troubled spots of the country," he added. "If we had approved this today it would have been the fourth on the series and you remember the request for emergency rule started in May 2013 and therefore we had done three extensions."

Zakari also urged Nigerians to play their part in the fight against insurgency currently affecting the country. Enditem