The Nigerian Senate will on Wednesday (today) and Thursday, grill the Service Chiefs over the worsening insecurity in the nation.
The lawmaker representing the Lagos East Senatorial District at the 9th Nigerian National Assembly, Sen. Tokunbo Abiru, disclosed this information to journalists on Tuesday while also informing about the rescheduling of the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance, and Other Financial Institutions meeting from Tuesday to Friday of this week.
In recent weeks, there has been a surge in killings and kidnappings of citizens for ransom, which has caused widespread panic.
Last Tuesday, the Senate decided to summon the Service Chiefs in order to obtain explanations on their efforts to address the escalating insecurity in the country.
However, yesterday, Abiru informed journalists that due to the Service Chiefs’ scheduled appearance, the Senate had decided to postpone the appearance of the CBN governor, Olayemi Cardoso, to Friday.
The committee members had convened in Room 211, as per the resolution, for the scheduled meeting with the CBN governor. They assembled from 3 pm to 4.30 pm before deciding to reschedule the interface to Friday of this week.
The chairman of the committee, Abiru, said, “After waiting for close to two hours for the CBN governor on the planned interface, we have resolved to postpone it to Friday this week by 9 am.
“Postponement of the interface between our committee and the CBN governor arose from the fact that he and other managers of the nation’s economy had been interfacing with our colleagues in the House of Representatives since morning without knowing when exactly, the session would end.
“We would have fixed Wednesday or Thursday this week as a new day for the interface but the Senate has fixed the two days for critical and constructive engagement with the Service Chiefs.
“This made us eventually settle for Friday this week for interface with the CBN governor by 9 am prompt.
“Communication to this effect would be forwarded to the CBN Governor today (Tuesday) and possibly other government officials managing the economy.”
In the plenary session held earlier, the Senate conducted two-hour closed-door meetings.
Subsequently, a motion by Senator Ahmad Lawan regarding the passing of Senator Bukar Ibrahim, a former governor of Yobe State, was deliberated upon.
Following a moment of silence to pay respects to the departed, the Senate appointed a delegation comprising nine individuals to extend condolences to the Governor of Yobe State and the bereaved family.
