•Service chiefs
The Senate has entered into a closed-door meeting with the National Security Adviser (NSA) Nuhu Ribadu and the nation’s service chief over the worrying state of security in the country.
Those in attendance include the Chief of Defence Staff, Christopher Musa, the Chief of Army Staff, Taoreed Lagbaja, the Chief of Air Staff, Hassan Abubakar and the Chief of Naval Staff, Emmanuel Ogalla, reports Channels TV.
Others are the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun; the Director General of the State Services, Yusuf Magaji Bichi, and the Director General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Ahmed Rufai Abubakar.
Ministers in attendance include the Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru; Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle; Minister of Police Affairs, Ibrahim Geidam; Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo and the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun.
Before the closed-door session, Senate President Godswill Akpabio apologised for commencing behind schedule.
“I want to thank the service chiefs who were earlier here in the Senate before we adjourned. The only addition is that we now felt that the ministers should also come because they are supervising most of the finances of these security agencies,” Akpabio told them.
“We can talk security but we need money to also procure equipment and to do a lot of things. Your presence here will give us insights into how funding is being handled to ensure the security of lives and properties.
“The Senate decided to take this option for us to have a session because of the various petitions that we have received from our constituents. As part of our major oversight function, we decided to do this through the Committee of a Whole.”
After addressing the top government officials, the Senate thereafter entered into a closed-door session with them.
Postponement
Today’s meeting comes a week after the upper chamber invited the security chiefs but postponed it following the absence of the defence chief and the NSA
Although other service chiefs were at the Senate chamber to honour the invite, the chief of defence staff and NSA were conspicuously absent. This pushed Senator Akpabio to postpone the meeting.
The Senate President said his office received an apology letter from Ribadu for his absence. He, however, expressed displeasure with the absence of Mr Musa, an army general.
