Northern crisis: Jonathan to ignore Reps’ summons

President Goodluck Jonathan will not honour the House of Representatives’ summons over the spate of violence in the northern part of the country, a top official in the presidency said on Thursday.

The official, who pleaded not to be mentioned, said the summons was not based on any point of  law.

But the House said on Thursday that it had the power under Section 89 (1-a) of the 1999 Constitution, to summon “any person” over whom it had the power of appropriation, including the President.

Spokesman for the House, Zakari Mohammed, said this even as he explained that the summons to Jonathan was not intended for a confrontation with the President.

The Reps had on Tuesday passed a resolution asking the President to appear before them to explain what he was doing to tackle the insecurity in the country.

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