Senators plan probe of National Assembly invasion

Chairman, Senate Committee on Navy, Isa Hamma Misau and his counterpart in Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions, Rafiu Ibrahim, yesterday said they would jointly sponsor a motion to urge the Federal Government to immediately set up a judicial commission of enquiry to probe the recent invasion of the National Assembly Complex by masked operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS).

The duo, in a joint statement in Abuja, said an open enquiry would enable Nigerians know what led to the siege and those behind the plot to illegally take over the National Assembly.

They stated that one of the priority assignments of the Senate on resumption would be a motion on the floor in which the siege and the rape on democracy would be debated and appropriate resolutions taken on how to redress the situation.

“Is it not curious that the Federal Government has not deemed it necessary to constitute a judicial panel to conduct an impartial and public enquiry into the recent siege on the National Assembly which amounted to a coup against democracy in the country?” the senator said.

Also, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has berated the siege.

The ACF said this yesterday in a communiqué signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Muhammad Ibrahim Biu, after its National Executive Council (NEC) quarterly meeting held in Kaduna presided by the Acting Chairman, Alhaji Musa Liman Kwande, and attended by NEC members from the 19 northern states and FCT.

The Forum, which lauded the actions taken so far by the Federal Government, urged it to thoroughly investigate the immediate and remote causes of the invasion by DSS personnel to unveil the truth and sanction all those found culpable, no matter their status.

It noted that because punitive measure was never taken against those involved in similar episodes in the past, it has encouraged the DSS to do what it recently did.”

The apex socio-political group from the North, which expressed serious concern over the lingering crisis between the Executive and the Legislature on issues of good governance, appealed to both to sheath their swords and put the interest of the nation above all other pecuniary considerations.

The forum also paid glowing tributes to the late Chairman, Alhaji Ibrahim Ahmadu Coomassie, who died on July 19, 2018 in Katsina, saying: “His career in the Nigeria Police Force from Cadet Officer to the top as Inspector-General of Police for 36 years was eventful and fulfilling.”

In another development, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) has called on the National Assembly to objectively scrutinise the budget proposal for the 2019 elections to eliminate duplication and wasteful provisions, and as well expedite actions on the virement and supplementary appropriation.

Its Executive Director, Auwal Ibrahim Musa, who spoke in Abuja yesterday, said the Centre considered the proposed budget size of N242 billion for election curiously high, coming from a government that professes prudence in spending and cutting the cost of governance.

The CISLAC, therefore, called on the National Assembly to refocus and carry out its legislative responsibilities with a sense of patriotism and prioritising the provision of good governance in line with its constitutional mandate.