Lawan inaugurates ad hoc committee on national security

President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan has inaugurated the Senate Ad hoc Committee on Security Challenges and stressed the urgent need to restructure, review and reorganise the Current Security Architecture.

The ceremony was performed on Tuesday by the President of the Senate at the National Assembly.

The Senate had on Jan. 29 set up the ad hoc committee to engage security agencies on the level of insecurity in the country and report back to the upper chamber within two weeks.

According to Lawan, the committee was set up because of the relevance the legislature attached to the issues connected with national security.

“The constitution guarantees protection of life and property of every Nigerian and the Government’s commitment to upholding the same.

“It is well known that Security Sector Governance (SSG) aims at elaborating rules that set standards for state and human security by applying the principle of good governance to the security sector.

“This makes security provision, oversight and management more effective and more accountable, within the framework of democratic civilian control.

“It means that institutions fulfil their respective roles and responsibilities to a high professional standard based on Good Security Sector Governance standard and best practices,” he said.

Lawan said that certain fundamental principles must be adhered to in order to ensure that the provision of security was underpinned by democratic values.

He further said that the legislature was seeking a security sector reform that would transform the security sector and assign roles and responsibilities in a manner that was consistent with democratic norms and the principles of good governance.

He said that these principles included respect for the rule of law, transparency, accountability, and public trust.

“The Nation must initiate the process to formulate or re-orient the policies, structures and capacities of institutions and groups engaged in the security sector in order to make them more effective, efficient, accountable, and responsive to democratic control and to the security and justice needs of the people.

“We must recognise the interrelations between the qualities of security sector governance within the context of sustainable development as no nation can develop in the face of gross insecurity.

“All hands must be on deck to contribute towards ensuring good security sector governance that will promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.

“I, therefore, call on the members of the Ad hoc Committee to be rigorous in their assignment in order to deepen the understanding of the nature of the security crisis, have a realistic assessment of the problem and proffer workable solutions,” he said.

The 17-man committee would be chaired by the senate leader, Yahaya Abdullahi.