Declare state of emergency on security, Senate tells Buhari

The Senate, today, urged President Muhammadu Buhari to declare a state of emergency on the state of security in the country to enable all stakeholders put their hands on deck to tackle the challenge.

The upper legislative chamber also resolved to set up an ad-hoc committee to engage security agencies and report back to the Senate within two weeks.

The red legislative chamber, which lived to its promise to discuss security situation today, also wants the special committee to engage the national security adviser on the implementation modalities of the December 2019 national security strategies as part of measures to contain the security challenge.

It also said the committee should engage the National Security Institution to discuss their operational structures, funding, equipment and staff disposition with a view to reviewing the national security architecture to make it more responsive in tackling the myriad security challenge facing the nations and the people.

Earlier in his contribution to the debate, the Senate Minority leader, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, said the government of Nigeria should resign following its inability to keep Nigeria safe especially as it promised to do so and was elected in 2015 and 2019.

He said President Muhammadu Buhari’s statement, that he was surprised at the rate of insecurity in the country, was indeed perplexing to him and Nigerian.

Speaking in Nigerian’s Pidgin English, he said: “Mr President, this your surprise, surprise me.”

Details later …

Tribune Online