Nigerians on a daily basis wake up to the tenebrous and galling news of different forms of insecurity in one part of the country or the other. Is it insurgency, banditry, kidnappings, or other forms of criminality? Just name it.
Citizens are worried and so are their representatives in the Green Chamber. Thus, the vexatious issue of insecurity got considerable attention of the members of the 9th House in their two years of representation – from June 11, 2019, to June 11, 2021.
They devoted plenteous time to debate the issue like never before, and in two years, a total of 96 motions, exclusively on insecurity, were considered by the House, under the leadership of the Speaker, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila. By implication, the 360 members of the House passed 96 resolutions on insecurity arising from those motions, in addition to other security-related resolutions in two years. This is unprecedented and commendable.
Getting down to business after their inauguration on June 11, 2019, the first motion on insecurity in the life of the 9th House was considered and passed on Thursday, June 13 that year. Interestingly, it was the second motion in the life of the current House.
Sponsored by Rep. Ajibola Muraina, the motion was titled, ‘Recent killings in Eruwa and Lantate (Ibarapa East, Igbo-Ora and Idere, Ibarapa Central and Igangan, Tampa and Ayete, Ibarapa Local Government areas of Oyo State.’ It came with some far-reaching resolutions. That opened the door for many other motions and resolutions on insecurity.
Incidentally, the last motion considered by the House on its 2-year mark on June 10, 2021, the last day of plenary for the second session, also dwelled on the saturnine insecurity situation in the country.
Titled, ‘Need to investigate the recent killings and destruction of properties in some communities of Apa/Agatu Federal Constituency of Benue State,’ the motion was sponsored by Rep. Godday Samuel. Like the one above, this motion also led to some profound resolutions.
Impliedly, in between the two motions above, there were 94 other motions on insecurity that came up on the floor of the House, all of which led to deep and decisive resolutions.
For example, the maddening cases of banditry, kidnappings and cattle rustling in the North-central and the North-west got 15 and 14 motions, while 11 motions were sponsored on the cases of insurgency in the North-east. Ten motions were on the state of insecurity in the South-east, as nine dwelled on the South-South region.
There were 12 motions on the general state of insecurity in the country, while six motions dealt with how to improve the performances of the security agencies. Five motions focused on the state of insecurity in the South-west. There were motions on the Shiite’s invasion of the National Assembly and their clash with the police, cultism, communal and boundary clashes, attacks on Nigerians in South Africa, among others.
Beyond all the motions, there were some concrete actions taken by the House leadership, all in its efforts to find lasting solutions to the problem. It is on record that Gbajabiamila met with President Muhammadu Buhari on several occasions to brief him on insecurity.
Giving the matter the seriousness that it deserves, Gbajabiamila also took time in 2019 to attend the budget defence session of the House Committee on Defence to hear, first-hand, what the challenges of the security agencies were.
Again, the Speaker, alongside his Deputy, Rep. Ahmed Idris Wase, and other principal officers, met with the former service chiefs behind closed-doors in September last year in a solution-finding mission.
A defining moment in the measures taken by the House to address the security situation was a 4-hour closed-door session the lawmakers held on April 27, 2021, after which they came up with strong resolutions.
At the end of the session, the lawmakers urged President Buhari to declare a state of emergency on insecurity. The visibly disturbed lawmakers equally resolved to invite the National Security Adviser (NSA), the service chiefs and the heads of paramilitary agencies. A resolution urging the Executive arm to ensure the recruitment of more personnel into the military and the police was also adopted.
Not only that, members of the Green Chamber called on the judicial arm to expedite action on the prosecution of those awaiting trial on banditry, terrorism and others and urged the Executive arm to urgently provide relief materials to the victims of attacks nationwide.
Not done yet, the lawmakers said to allow the local governments to perform their optimal functions, their financial autonomy should be guaranteed. Being proactive, the lawmakers appealed to the Executive arm to ensure that the country’s national assets such as Kainji and Shiroro dams were adequately protected.
The various committees on security in the House were then mandated to conduct an all-encompassing audit of all military and paramilitary assets and arms and revert to the House for necessary action.
In condemning the attacks on security agents and formations, the lawmakers sympathised with their families. They equally sent their sympathies to all the families and communities that have been victims of banditry, terrorism and criminal elements in the country.
The House then reiterated its commitment to the security and corporate existence of Nigeria and resolved to accelerate its engagement with stakeholders, including a national security summit through a special committee headed by the Speaker.
That security summit was held in Abuja between May 26 and 28. Its report will soon be laid before the House, and the recommendations therefrom will be forwarded to President Buhari who has shown reasonable commitment to act on them.
But before then, we have already started harnessing the positive impact of the summit as the House drew inputs from the stakeholders, which formed part of thirteen (13) Bills presented at plenary on Wednesday, June 9, 2021, most of which intend to reform Nigeria’s security framework and address the issues of overlapping mandates among the agencies.
Among the newly-introduced security-related Bills are the Armed Forces Act (Amendment) Bill, 2021; Police Act (Amendment) Bill, 2021; National Security and Civil Defence Corps Act, 2003 (Amendment) Bill, 2021; National Security and Civil Defence Corps Act, 2007 (Amendment) Bill, 2021; ECOWAS Convention on Small Arms, Light Weapons and Ammunition (Ratification and Enforcement) Bill, 2021; Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Act (Amendment) Bill, 2021; Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act (Amendment) Bill, 2021; Customs and Excise Management Act (Amendment) Bill, 2021.
A Bill on the amendment of Sections 215 (5) and 315 (5) of the constitution to establish judicial review of police actions and to strip certain laws from the constitution for possible reform through regular legislative processes was part of the nine bills. The ECOWAS Bill seeks to ratify the ECOWAS Convention on Small Arms, Light Weapons and Ammunition and ensure the enforcement of same in Nigeria.
Thus, the two years of the 9th House can best be described as a period of massive and prescient legislative measures to tackle insecurity in the country. Nigerians should only expect more of such actions as the lawmakers focus on their remaining two years in office.
Krishi is the Chief Press Secretary to the Speaker, House of Representatives, Federal Republic of Nigeria.
