Senate summons Communications Minister over rising insecurity

The Senate has summoned the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, to explain how criminal elements have continued to use telephones in Nigeria to demand ransoms and getting away with it without traces.

The Senate asked the Minister to come forward to give an explanation regarding his seeming failure to implement its previous resolutions reached to help Nigeria tackle her security challenges.

The upper legislative chamber reached the decision to invite the Minister for explanation following a motion by Senate Deputy Minority Leader, Emmanuel Bwacha.

Coming under Order 42 and 52, Bwacha drew Senate attention to the rising spate of insecurity in Nigeria; pointing out that the situation was not only alarming but has also assumed an even more dangerous dimension.

He cited the recent murder of Nasarawa State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Philip Shekwor, and the abduction of a Chinese national whose whereabouts are still unknown as a few of the many disturbing incidents.

Concern that armed bandits, terrorists, and other criminal elements have continued to freely use their telephones to demand ransoms without any traces, Bwacha asked the Senate to invite the Minister for explanations.

According to Senate Deputy Minority Leader, the activities of politicians across the Nigerian landscape have further heightened the level of insecurity, accusing his fellow politicians of recruiting criminals ahead of the next General Election.

Bwacha was even more troubled by a growing complicity among Nigeria’s security operatives; referring to some of them as criminals.

Arising from this, Bwacha appealed to the Senate to summon the Minister of Communications to interface with its Committee on Communications.

In his contribution, the Senate Leader, Yahaya Abdullahi, reminded the Senate that it had in two separate security summits interacted with the Minister and all the Service Chiefs on the issue without any concrete results.

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He urged the Senate not to waste its time interfacing with the Minister anymore but to simply invite him to explain why he has refused to implement all of its earlier resolutions on the matter.

The Senate complied with Abdullahi’s position, summoning the Minister of Communications to appear before its Committees on Communications and Legislative Compliance.