The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee, Hon. Garba Muhammad, has raised the alarm that the National Assembly has received threats from terrorists to bomb the National Assembly Complex.
Muhammad disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja during public hearing on a Bill for an Act to provide for the establishment and the functions of the Legislative Security Directorate in the National Assembly; to provide for the qualification and condition of service of the Sergeant-at-arms and other personnel of the directorate and for related matters.
He also lamented that the National Assembly is going through a lot of Security challenges; including car thefts, motorcycle thefts, vandalism, fake Identity Cards, among others.
The chairman stressed that they have also received threats from terrorists to bomb the National Assembly Complex and threats from protesters to lock up the National Assembly
He said security security is very crucial to all arms of government, especially to the legislative arm because it is an Institution where, legislators, staff, executive, judiciary, individuals, organisations, protesters, demonstrators, and many more troop into on a daily basis in their droves to pursue one thing or the other.
Muhammad stated: “Due to this daily massive influx of people into the Parliament, criminals seek and attempt to take advantage of the situation to infiltrate, in order to conduct their dubious behaviors.
“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 to look like a small market.
“We have received threats from terrorists to bomb the National Assembly Complex and threats from protesters to lock up the National Assembly.”
The chairman noted that legislators are also exposed to threats from constituents and others who gained easy access into their offices without any formal appointment
Muhammad noted that it was obvious that with the ongoing security challenges, if proper measures are not taken, would truncate the legislative activities in the National Assembly.
He emphasised that if activities are thwarted, there would be no representation, no oversight, no annual budget, and there would be no plenary.
The chairman said that would destabilise legislative procedure, democracy and the stability of the system, and our Nation at large.
Muhammad said: “Effective security management needs a total approach that requires various elements to be integrated together in order to secure our environment for legislative procedure to function effectively and maximally.
“That is why 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.”
Muhammad said the need for effective security measures in the National Assembly cannot be overemphasized; because Parliament needs to be accessible to the public in order to uphold democratic values, making it difficult to implement stringent security measures without affecting others interest.