The House of Representatives has commenced the sectorial debate on the state of security as part of a sectoral review of key ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).
The Chief of Defence Staff, Christopher Musa; the Chief of Army Staff, Taoreed Lagbaja; the Chief of Naval Staff, Emmanuel Ogalla, the Chief of Air Staff, Hassan Abubakar, and the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, on Tuesday, appeared before the lawmakers in the green chamber to brief them on the security situation in the country.
PREMIUM TIMES had reported that the House, last week, turned back officers sent by the service chiefs to represent them at the sectorial report.
The House insisted that the service chiefs must appear in person to brief them on the security situation in the country.
At the commencement of the debate today, Speaker Tajudeen Abbas reiterated that the House will allow only heads of agencies to appear before them. He added that the House will not tolerate “proxies”.
Shortly after the security chiefs entered the chamber, a member of the House, Ahmed Jaha (APC, Borno) raised a point of order that the interaction with the lawmakers must be behind closed doors.
He stated that security matter is too sensitive for deliberation in the open. His motion for an executive session was rejected by the Speaker, who argued that the “House belong to the people.”
The ruling by the Speaker generated mild uproar in the House, however, the Speaker insisted that the session would be an open one.
The deliberation is ongoing at the time of this report.
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