Reps reject representatives of service chiefs, IGP at plenary session

The House of Representatives on Thursday said the green legislative chambers would not encourage or accept representatives of anyone called to appear before them.

This the house of representatives said, was due to the sensitivity of their engagement with the lawmakers.

This was said by Speaker of the House Tajudeen Abbas when he threw out the Service Chiefs’ delegates during the plenary session, stating that the chiefs of the security agencies had to show up in person on November 21.

“Please convey our message to your service chiefs that we understand the tight schedule they have, and we are willing to make an adjustment to reschedule this engagement till Tuesday next week for them to appear in person,” he said.

The service chiefs were invited by the House to participate in a discussion about the nation’s security issues.

The legislators expressed disappointment, nevertheless, that the service chiefs were unable to physically attend the meeting.

A point of order was made by Benjamin Kalu, the Deputy Speaker, who cited Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution.

He said: “It (the constitution) empowers the House to invite anybody, the House has extended invitation to the heads of security agencies not for the purpose of investigation but for dialogue to explain what is going on around that space.

“It is not satisfactory that they are not here in person. I want to move that these sectoral engagements be suspended until the service chiefs come to address us personally.”