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Defence and Security

Sallah: Senate adjourns plenary until May 18

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The Senate on Thursday adjourned plenary until May 18, to enable the members to observe the Sallah.

President of the senate, Mr Ahmad Lawan, made the announcement after a closed-door session with Service Chiefs which lasted for about four hours.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting was on the plans of the service chiefs at containing the present insecurity situation in the country.

According to Lawan, the senate will adjourn for the Sallah break and to resume on May 18.

He, however, said that before that date, “we expect that our committees will still be working, particularly the Joint Committee working on the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).

“We expect that the joint committee will be presenting its report to the senate as soon as we resume.

“It is still our desire and determination to pass the PIB before the end of May,” Lawan said.

On the Electoral Act amendment Bill, Lawan said that the senate Committee on Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) would still have to do some little work.

He expressed hope that the National Assembly would pass the amendment to the Bill before the summer recess which would be in June.

“Other committees, particularly again, our committee on Constitution Review headed by Deputy Senate President, has designed zonal interactions with our constituents, Nigerians.

“We also expect that they will be able to complete their work as soon as possible for the senate and House of Representatives to vote on the issues and, of course, send our report to the 36 State Houses of Assembly.

“I’m sure that during our recess, between now and May 18, we will still be doing one form of legislative intervention or the other, either as individuals or may be as groups.

“(This is) because ours is a full time job, and the parliament and parliamentarians are always the first point of call when there is distress.

“Nigerians will always remember national assembly members as soon as something happens.

“We will continue to be available for our constituents. We should continue to be alive to our responsibilities and we should continue to do our best,” he said. (NAN)

 

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Defence and Security

Army Has No Desire To Truncate Nigeria’s Democracy — COAS

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Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja
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The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Taoreed Lagbaja, on Tuesday, restated the commitment of the Nigerian Army to defend the nation’s choice of government, democracy.

Addressing participants at a seminar on career planning and management organised by the Army headquarters, the COAS said the Army has no plans to truncate democracy in the country.

He charged officers of the Nigerian Army to remain above board in the discharge of their professional duties.

“Permit me to seize this opportunity to reiterate that the Armed Forces of Nigeria, particularly the Nigerian Army has come to terms with the country’s choice of democracy as the preferred system of governance,” he said during his address to officers.

“We are therefore agents of democracy and have no desire to truncate it. The Nigerian Army will continue to defend our constitution and not suspend it for whatever reason.

“It is the duty of our elected leaders to lead while the military does its job as enshrined in our constitution. Nigerian Army personnel must therefore remain professional and be above board as they discharge their constitutional duties.”

The commitment by the COAS followed the series of putsches in West and Central Africa which have experienced at least seven military takeovers in the last four years.

Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, and most recently, Niger Republic — all members of the Economic Community of Western African States ( ECOWAS) — have pulled out from the regional bloc in last four years. Outside of West Africa, Chad and Sudan also experienced military coups in 2021.

 

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Economic: Defence Chief Warns Coup Advocates

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The Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, has warned against advocating for a coup due to economic hardship, emphasizing patience and the superiority of democracy.

He made this known on Thursday while speaking with journalists at the Nigerian Army 6 Division Headquarters in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, after commissioning some building projects.

General Musa urged individuals promoting military takeover to cease such statements.

The Chief of Defence Staff had earlier commissioned the newly constructed Entrance Gate and Officers Transit Accommodation at the 6 Division Headquarters.

Protests have occurred in Ogun, Oyo, Kano, Niger and some parts of the country in the last few weeks over the hardship experienced in the country as Nigerians lament food inflation, high cost of living, amongst other harsh living conditions occasioned by the removal of petrol subsidy, forex crisis, amongst others.

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Defence and Security

Security: Bill To Introduce State Police Scales Second Reading

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Federal House of Representatives
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A Constitution Amendment Bill to introduce state police has scaled second reading in the House of Representatives.

The bill, which was sponsored by 13 members of the House, enjoyed support from majority of the lawmakers in the green chamber who believed that concerns of political victimisation by state governors, should take the backseat to the current state of insecurity across the country.

Last week, President Bola Tinubu and 36 state governors considered the creation of state police as solution to the menacing security challenges like kidnapping and banditry ubiquitous in the country.

State police has been a subject of controversy since the Seventh National Assembly and has failed to make it through the amendment phase.

Governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had recently restated their position on state policing, as the solution to the country’s worsening security situation, lamenting that Nigeria is “almost on the road to Venezuela”.

Also, regional socio-political groups such as Afenifere, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Middle Belt Forum, and the Northern Elders’ Forum, have repeatedly called for state police as solution the myriad of increasing security challenges confronting the nation.

Already, states in the South-West geopolitical zone have formed the Amotekun while their counterparts in the South-East also created state-owned security outfit Ebube Agu. The Benue Guards has also been operational in Benue State in the North Central while states like Katsina, Zamfara and other bandit-prone sub-nationals have also come up with similar state-established outfits.

However, these outfits have not been effective as anticipated as they don’t have the backing of the Federal Government or the Presidency while states continue to demand that Amotekun, Ebube Agu and others are granted license to bear assault rifles like AK-47 to confront lethal gun-toting marauders.

 

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