Days after President Bola Tinubu ordered the withdrawal of police escorts and other personnel from Very Important Persons (VIPs) to focus on regular policing duties, the Senate observed on Wednesday that the directive had been openly flouted.
VIPs are not only still moving about with police orderlies but other categories of people, including businessmen, contractors, Chinese nationals, musicians and public figures still enjoy police protection, according to the Senate.
The Senate, in reacting to the development, mandated its Committee on Police Affairs to immediately investigate why the presidential directive was being flouted.
The Senate took the stance at the session presided over by the Deputy Senate President (DSP), Senator Barau Jibrin, following a complaint by Senator Abdul Ningi (Bauchi-Central) that Tinubu’s directive was being observed in breach.
Ningi, a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lawmaker, also observed that in cases where the directive was carried out, it was done selectively such that National Assembly members had become the “scapegoats” for the enforcement of the order.
He said for example, while as a senator, his police orderly had been withdrawn, ministers, singers, businessmen and all manner of persons still enjoyed the full complement of their police personnel.
The Senator, who raised a point of order to draw attention to the alleged disregard to the presidential directive, noted that if the Federal Government was indeed serious about its war against insecurity, the policemen should be fully withdrawn from everyone without exceptions so that they could beef up regular police duties.
Addressing the Senate, he said, “It should be done across the board. Let’s see what happens from the office of the President, to the Vice-President, to the Senate President, to the Speaker of the House, to the ministers. Mr President, I’m coming after they have withdrawn my only orderly.
“I saw two convoys of ministers and they were carrying lots of security personnel. Mr President, I have also seen business concerns, Chinese and other business concerns, yesterday, with their complements of orderlies. Mr President, I have also seen daughters and sons of political office holders having orderlies and having security covers.
“Mr President, I have seen singers having orderlies and complementary protection. I cannot ever imagine that a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, who has been here for a very long time, only one orderly, and he is withdrawn, and nothing will happen. Like I said earlier, Mr President, I have no problem. But let it be done across the board. Let it be done across the board. I can take care of myself.”
Ningi added, “But let me not see governors, ministers, and business concerns being covered by the security establishment. This is unheard of in any democracy. And that’s why I said, this is a matter that concerns me; it concerns me, it is not right, and it should be taken with all seriousness.
“I call on the President of the Senate to ask the Chairman of the Committee on Police to please investigate why other people are having security covers. Because from the day the Presidency and the Inspector General of Police made this announcement, you cannot just put the National Assembly as a scapegoat and others enjoy the privileges of security control.”
The DSP, in his response, assured Ningi that the matter he raised concerning selective enforcement of the directive was being looked into by the Senate.
Senator Jibrin said, “We are on top of the situation. But in respect of the fact that the directive of Mr President has been flouted, where you have the class of persons that you just said, the singers, businessmen, and what have you, having policemen, the Chairman of the Police Affairs Committee should take up this matter, conduct a proper investigation, and let us know why is the directive of Mr President being flouted.
“Mr President gave that order in order to strengthen our police force to deal with our internal security problems, and it was done in good faith.”
Credit: Nigerian Tribune