By Akanimo Sampson
The Red Chambers of Nigeria’s bicameral Legislature has started to explore the best possible means to give the security architecture of the country a shot at the elbow. To this end, Ahmad Lawan, Senate President, has inaugurated an 18-man ad-hoc panel of senators to look into the matter.
The panel which was set up on Tuesday is saddled with the responsibility of recommending ways to improving the present security situation in the country.
The Senate had last week, after exhaustive deliberations on the security situation in Nigeria resolved to set up the ad-hoc panel on Nigeria security challenges: urgent need to restructure, review and reorganise the current security architecture.
Inaugurating the ad-hoc security panel, the Senate president charged the panelists to be rigorous in their assignment in order to deepen the understanding of the nature of the security crisis, have a realistic assessment of the problem and proffer workable solution.
According to Lawan, “the Constitution guarantees protection of the life and property of every Nigerian and the government’s commitment to upholding the same. 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. The nation must initiate the process to formulate or re-orient the policies, structures and capacities of institutions and groups engaged in the security sector in order to make them more effective, efficient, accountable, and responsive to democratic control and to the security and justice needs of the people.”
He equally charged security agencies to give all the necessary cooperation to enable the committee to discharge its assignment effectively. “We don’t want a situation where security agencies will hoard information from us. What we are trying to do is to support the security agencies to function optimally,” he said.
Chairman of the panel, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi, who is also the Senate Leader, in his remarks said in spite of challenges of limited time and funds, the panel will strive to lay the desired solid foundation for peace and security in Nigeria.
Other panelists include the Senate Minority Leader, Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe, Senate Deputy Chief Whip, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, Senator Mohammed Ndume, Senator Aliyu Wammako, Senator Dauda Jike, Senator Kashim Shettima, Senator Ibn Na’Allah and Senator George Sekibo.
The rest are Senator Ibrahim Gobir, 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.
