Insecurity: Senate Grills Service Chiefs Wednesday, Thursday

* To meet Tinubu’s economic team, CBN Gov Friday 

Sunday Aborisade in Abuja

The Senate has said it will grill the service chiefs Wednesday and Thursday this week over the  deplorable state of insecurity in the country. 

The Chairman of the Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions, Senator Adetokunbo Abiru, stated this while addressing journalists Tuesday.

He said the planned interface with the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso, was shifted from Tuesday to Friday, since Wednesday and Thursday had been slated for questioning the service chiefs by the Senate.

He also said the invitation had been extended to members of the President Bola Tinubu’s Economic Team.

The Senate had by its resolution Tuesday last week summoned the service chiefs to appear before it in plenary for required explanations over the worsening security situation in the country.

The Committee on Banking has also last week summoned the CBN Governor to appear before it Tuesday on the state of the nation’s economy and free flow of the naira. 

Members of the committee were already gathered at the venue of the planned interface with the CBN governor when it was obvious that Cardoso would have been overstressed in the House of Representatives.

Abiru said: “After waiting for close to two hours for the CBN Governor on the planned interface, we have resolved to postpone it to Friday this week by 9:00am prompt .

“Postponement of the interface between our committee and the CBN Governor arose from the fact that he and other managers of the nation’s economy have been interfacing with our colleagues in the House of Representatives since morning without knowing when exactly the session would end .

“We would have fixed Wednesday or Thursday this week as a new day for the interface but the Senate as a whole has fixed the two days for very critical and constructive engagement with the service chiefs.

“This made us to eventually settle for Friday this week for the interface with the CBN Governor by 9: 00am prompt.

“Communication to this effect would be forwarded to the CBN Governor today (Tuesday) and possibly other government officials managing the economy.”

Earlier, the Senate in plenary had a two-hour closed door session after which it considered a motion from Senator Ahmad Lawan on the demise of Senator Bukar Abba Ibrahim by observing a minute silence for the deceased and raised a nine-man delegation for a condolence visit to the Governor of Yobe State and family of the deceased.

The delegation is to be led by Senator Adamu Aliero (PDP Kebbi Central).