The House of Representatives has passed for second reading, a bill to make it mandatory for the president, governors and others to appear before the National Assembly and States Houses of Assembly on issues bordering on security.
The bill, sponsored by Hon. Serguis Ogun, was unanimously supported and voted on for second reading when the Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, put the question to members for passage.
The bill is titled: “A Bill for an Act to Alter the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 to Grant the two Chambers of the National Assembly and States Houses of Assembly Powers to summon the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Governors of States to answer questions on issues of National Security or any Matter whatsoever, over which the National Assembly and States Houses of Assembly have powers to make laws; and for Related Matters (HB. 1216).”
The bill was prompted by the failure of President Muhammadu Buhari to appear before the House when he was invited after the Zabarmari incidence in 2020 which claimed the lives of over 40 farmers who were killed in their farms by Boko Haram insurgents.
