Members of the House of Representatives have drawn attention to a terrorist threat to bomb the National Assembly amidst other security concerns.
This was disclosed by the Chairman of the House Committee on Internal Security, Hon. Garba Ibrahim Muhammad, on Tuesday during a public hearing on a bill to establish the Legislative Security Directorate.
Muhammad stated that recent intelligence findings and security reports indicate that the National Assembly has become an increasing focus of criminal and terrorist threats.
He explained that the large number of people entering the complex each day, including visitors, lobbyists, and protesters, has heightened its exposure to potential attacks.
The proposed legislation is titled “A bill for an act to provide for the establishment and the functions of 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, 2024 (HB 1632)”.
The Legislative Security Directorate Bill (HB 1632) aims to create a dedicated security agency within the National Assembly to manage and coordinate its internal protection services.
He said: “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 makes the National Assembly 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. Legislators are exposed to threats from constituents and others who have gained easy access to their offices without any formal appointment.”
He warned that, with the ongoing security challenges, if proper measures are not taken, it would truncate legislative activities in the National Assembly.
“It is obvious that with the ongoing security challenges, if proper measures are not taken, will truncate the legislative activities in the National Assembly and if activities are thwarted, there will be no representation, no oversight, no annual budget, there will be no plenary at all, and that will destabilise legislative procedure, democracy and the stability of the system, and our Nation at large.
“Effective security management needs a total approach that requires various elements to be integrated 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,” he said.
He also urged State Houses of Assembly to emulate the National Assembly by adopting similar security frameworks to safeguard their legislative environments.
