The House of Representatives have alleged plot to bomb the National Assembly.
The allegation was made on Tuesday at a public hearing on “A Bill for an Act to provide for the establishment and the functions of Legislative Security Directorate in the National Assembly (HB 1632).
The alleger in chief is the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Internal Security, Garba Muhammed.
Voicing the concern of the House in justification of the bill, Muhammed said the National Assembly was facing different forms of security threats, for which there’s need to increase security in the complex.
“The National Assembly is going through a lot of Security challenges; we have experienced car thefts, motorcycle thefts, vandalism, fake Identity Cards, unwanted visitors accessing the National Assembly without documentation, petty trading which make the National Assembly look like a small market.
“We have received threats from terrorists to bomb the National Assembly Complex and threats from protesters to lockup the National Assembly. Legislators are exposed to threats from constituents and others who gained easy access into their offices without any formal appointment.
“It is obvious that with the ongoing security challenges, if proper measures are not taken, will truncate the activities in the National Assembly and if activities are thwarted, there will be no representation, no oversight, no annual budget.
“There will be no plenary at all, and that will destabilize legislative procedure, democracy and the stability of the system, and our nation at large,” the lawmaker declared.
He noted that the proposed legislation would address the security challenges confronting the National Assembly.
“This Bill is very important, because it seeks to address all the challenges as aforesaid and adopt world best practices of Parliamentary security procedures and architecture.
“The need for effective security measures in the National Assembly cannot be overemphasised because Parliament has to be accessible to the public in order to uphold democratic values, making it difficult to implement stringent security measures without affecting others interest.
“However, this Bill is committed to ensuring the best security architecture in the National Assembly, to protect legislators, staff, visitors and property. I also want to admonish our state Houses of Assembly to imbibe the same. With these few points of mine, I wish for a peaceful and fruitful hearing that will ultimately bring a turnaround in National Assembly security architecture.”
