Insecurity: Service Chiefs to brief Senate on Thursday

From Fred Itua, Abuja

President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, has revealed that the Service Chiefs will on Thursday, brief lawmakers in a closed door session. According to Lawan, the Chiefs, during the briefing will inform senators of plans on ground to restore law and order in every part of the country.

Last week, the Senate, summoned the Service Chiefs. They were initially billed to appear on Tuesday. Their appearance was deferred, following a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari already slated for Tuesday.

Lawan said during the briefing, senators will decide if a supplementary budget will be approved by the National Assembly to enable security agencies tackle the nationwide insecurity.

Lawan said: “They (Service Chiefs) were to come today (yesterday) at 11 am to brief the Senate on the security situation. Today, the National Security Council is continuing its meeting that it started last week. Therefore the invited security head will not be able to come for the briefing.

“We are not sure if they will finish their meeting today. We assume it could spill to Wednesday too. Just like it spilt from Thursday to Tuesday. So to be on the side of caution. We have now fix the date for the briefing to be Thursday, 6.

“I want to appeal to all of us that the briefing will take from the Service Chiefs and other security agencies will be very crucial for us to be properly informed, properly guided and that if there is any request for a supplementary budget, we should be able to understand why we should consider and approve such request.

“On Thursday, the only item on the order paper will be the briefing. We will do that as a special day for the engagement, the interaction between the Senate and the Service.”