The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Internal Security, Garba Muhammad, revealed that the National Assembly has received threats from terrorists to bomb the legislative complex. He made this known on Tuesday during a public hearing on a bill to establish the Legislative Security Directorate.
He said, “The National Assembly is going through a lot of security challenges; we have experienced car thefts, motorcycle thefts, vandalism, fake identity cards, and unwanted visitors accessing the National Assembly without documentation, as well as 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.
“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 destabilize 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.”
The proposed legislation is titled “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, 2024 (HB 1632).”
It aims to provide the legal framework for the National Assembly to establish a specialized internal security agency.