The Presidency has responded to a statement by former Minister of Information, Edwin Clark seeking state of emergency in the three north-eastern states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states.
Edwin Clark on Monday called on President Muhammadu Buhari to declare a state of emergency in the three states in view of the persistent terrorists’ attacks and insecurity in the North east region.
But the special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity Mr Femi Adesina reacting to Clark’s demand stated declaring a state of emergency was not enough to win the war against Boko Haram insurgency.
Adesina stated this during an interview with Channels Tv on Monday night.
“Under President (Goodluck Jonathan), state of emergency was declared in those three states, what did it achieve?” he questioned.
“That is already telling you that it goes beyond a state of emergency.”
“What should happen is bringing a decisive and final end to the insurgency raving those states and by the grace of God, we are almost there,” Adesina said.
The presidential aide had earlier explained the rationale behind Buhari’s planned visit to troubled states.
Adesina denied claims that the visits were delayed for political reasons, noting that the President has decided to embark on the visits after studying the reports of the delegations he sent to the states.
“The opposite of reactive is proactive. If you say that the President should have been proactive, should he have visited before the clashes came? Those people who talk about reactive and proactive – they just abuse speak
“President Muhammadu Buhari took immediate steps needed to address the issues, which included securing the affected places and visiting the communities,” Adesina added.
Fayose had criticised Buhari for his late decision to visit troubling states, describing his action as an afterthought.