The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, has inaugurated an ad-hoc committee of the Senate to look into the current security architecture of the country.
Members of the committee include the Senate Minority Leader, Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe; Senate Deputy Chief Whip, Senator Sabi Abdullahi; Senator Mohammed Ndume, Senator Aliyu Wammako, Senator Dauda Jike, Senator Kashim Shettima, Senator Ibn Na’Allah, Senator George Sekibo, and Senator Ibrahim Gobir.
Others are Senator Suleiman Kwari, Senator Kabiru Gaya, Senator Gershom Bassey, Senator Stella Oduah, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, Senator Abba Moro, Senator Abubakar Yusuf, and Senator Abdullahi Adamu.
At the inauguration ceremony held on Tuesday in Abuja, Senator Lawan asked the 18-member committee to recommend ways to improve the nation’s present security situation.
This comes one week after the Senate had exhaustive deliberations on the security situation in the country and resolved to set up a committee on ‘Nigerian Security Challenges: Urgent Need to Restructure, Review and Reorganise the Current Security Architecture.’
In his remarks, the Senate President asked the committee members to be rigorous in their assignment in order to “deepen the understanding of the nature of the security crisis.”
He urged them to have a realistic assessment of the problem and proffer workable solution, stressing that the Constitution guarantees protection of the life and property of every Nigerian and the government’s commitment to upholding same.
Lawan said, “It is well known that Security Sector Governance (SSG) aims at elaborating rules that set standards for state and human security by applying the principle of good governance to the security sector.
“This makes security provision, oversight, and management more effective and more accountable, within the framework of democratic civilian control.”
“The Legislature also further seeks a Security Sector Reform (SSR) that will transform the security sector and assign roles and responsibilities in a manner that is consistent with democratic norms and the principles of good governance.
“These principles include respect for the rule of law, transparency, accountability, and public trust,” he added.
According to the Senate President, Nigeria must initiate the process to formulate or re-orient the policies, structures, and capacities of institutions and groups engaged in the security sector.
He believes this will make them more effective, efficient, accountable, and responsive to democratic control and to the security and justice needs of the people.
Lawan also charged the security agencies to give all the necessary cooperation for the committee to discharge its duties effectively.
He said, “We don’t want a situation where security agencies will hoard information from us. What we are trying to do is to support our security agencies to function optimally.”
In his remarks, the chairman of the committee and the Senate Leader, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi, said despite the challenges of limited time and funds, the committee would strive to lay the desired solid foundation for peace and security.
