Insecurity : Take Our Resolution Serious – Senators Tell Buhari

Senators resumed their plenary on Tuesday with a call on Buhari to take their resolutions seriously by immediately initiating a process to replace the service chiefs.

Led by Senator Ahmad Lawan (APC, Yobe), this is the second time the Red Chamber is calling for the replacement of the service chiefs. In July, the Red Chamber had asked the service chiefs to resign their appointments.

But it is the first time that Lawan, seen as a strong ally of Buhari, appeared exceedingly worried and completely aligned with his colleagues without any move to protect the presidency.

Adopting a motion by Senator Kashim Shettima (APC, Borno) on the killings of 67 farmers in the state, the Senate said Buhari must act now.

Many of the lawmakers, who contributed to the debate, lampooned the Buhari Presidency, noting that it breached Section 14(1b) of the 1999 Constitution having allegedly “failed” to provide security for the people, which, they noted, was the primary purpose of government.

In his lead debate, Senator Shettima said what the present security chiefs were doing to end insurgency was not working or not enough.

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He said if the president insists that the security chiefs were doing their work well, “then the logical implication of such assumption is that the President himself, as the constitutional Commander-in-Chief of the country, has failed in his most rudimentary assignment of securing the nation.”

Senator Ahmad Baba Kaita (APC, Katsina), said killing and kidnapping had continued unabated every day, and that this must not be tolerated.

Senator Ali Ndume (APC, Borno), said the soldiers fighting the Boko Haram insurgents were not well-equipped. Ndume said the Senate must take a step forward on its resolutions, asking the Senate President to give President Buhari a timeline to implement the resolutions.

Senator Adamu Aliero (APC, Kebbi), said even though the federal government’s delegation was in Borno on Monday, the ideal thing for President Buhari to do was to visit Borno personally to condole with the families of the victims.

Senator Michael Opeyemi Bamidele (APC, Ekiti), said if the president still likes the current service chiefs, he should recruit them into a national advisory council on security.

The Senate, accordingly, called on the president to take immediate steps to restructure and remodel the country’s security architecture and provide enough state-of-the-art weapons and equipment to effectively combat the insurgents.

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Senate President Lawan said “These are not frivolous or imaginary resolutions; they are based on the reality on the country. Enough of excuses, people who have little or nothing to add to the system should be shown the exit.”