Insecurity: Reps announce date for security summit, call for memoranda

An ad-hoc committee of the House of Representatives on national security has called for the submission of memoranda on a planned security summit. The four-day summit has been scheduled for May 24 to 28.

According to a statement by the Clerk of the House of Representatives, Chinedu Akubueze, the deadline for submission is May 20.

The Special Ad Hoc Committee on National Security was constituted by the Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, on March 17.

According to the statement, memoranda should be solution-focused with emphasis on “local and community level security options, strategic kinetic national security, and non-military and non-kinetic security.”

Interested entities are to send their recommendations to the committee secretariat at the National Assembly complex.

Past security summits by lawmakers

This is not the first time lawmakers will be holding security summits in the administration of President Muhamadu Buhari.

In 2018, the Senate had a summit on security and another was held 14 months later in 2019.

This latest is coming amidst an increase in killings and general insecurity across the country. Last month, the lower chamber asked the president to declare a state-of-emergency on security, while the lawmakers also made 11 other resolutions on security.

Buhari’s fate on the balance

An opposition lawmaker, Dachung Bagos (PDP, Plateau), had said the lawmakers will consider the option of impeachment if nothing changes after the summit.

However, the possibility of impeaching the president is low because the ruling party, All Progressives Congress (APC), controls both chambers of the National Assembly. Also, past threats of impeachment failed to yield any action.

In 2020, the PDP caucus, under the leadership of Kingsley Chinda (PDP, Rivers) threatened to commence an impeachment process over insecurity and corruption in the country. It never did.

The four-day summit will hold from May 24 to 28.