One of the priority assignments of the Senate on resumption would be a motion on the floor in which the National Assembly siege would be debated…

Sunday Ani

Chairman, Senate Committee on Navy, Isa Hamma Misau and his counterpart in the Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions, Rafiu Ibrahim, have vowed to sponsor a motion, which would ensure that a judicial commission of enquiry is established by the Federal Government to unravel the circumstances surrounding the invasion of the National Assembly complex by masked operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS).

READ ALSO: Masked DSS operatives take over NASS security

In a statement jointly signed, they argued that an open enquiry would enable Nigerians know what led to the siege, as well as the masterminds of the plot to illegally take over the National Assembly.

They stated that one of the priority assignments of the Senate on resumption would be a motion on the floor in which the National Assembly siege and the rape on democracy would be debated and appropriate resolutions taken on how to redress the situation.

“Is it not curious that the Federal Government has not deemed it necessary to constitute a judicial panel to conduct an impartial and public enquiry into the recent siege to the National Assembly, which amounted to a coup against democracy in the country?

“The Federal Government cannot afford to sweep this treasonable act under the carpet or commit it to a secret in-house committee that may fail to do justice to the matter by treating the heist like business as usual. Sacking the former Director General of the DSS, Lawal Daura, does not end this. That is just a knee-jerk, spontaneous reaction. We now need to understand how to cut off the cancer.

READ ALSO: Ex-DSS DG, Lawal Daura released from custody, passport seized

“The National Assembly must insist on getting to the root of the case. We must understand the causes of the invasion and unravel the brains behind the anti-democratic action, in order to bring the perpetrators to book and prevent future occurrence. The inquiry must not be subjected to executive manipulation and cover up. We must ensure transparency and that is why an open judicial inquiry is what is needed now. A judicial commission of enquiry, holding its investigation in an open environment will help.

“This we believe would serve as a deterrent to any person or group of persons that may want to contemplate such condemnable action in future,” they stated.

While warning that security forces should not be used to derail the nation’s democracy, they urged Nigerians and members of the international community to remain alert in order to frustrate further attempts to truncate the nation’s democracy through illegal deployment of security forces to intimidate, harass, and arrest political opponents.

READ ALSO: NASS invasion: Security agents should shed military mentality, embrace democracy tenets – Sani, ACF scribe

“The recent siege to the National Assembly must not happen again and the only way to prevent a recurrence is to ensure that the perpetrators and their evil collaborators are unmasked and made to face the full wrath of the law.

“Anything less would only be condoning illegality and this will be unacceptable to Nigerians and our international development partners, who look up to Nigeria as a leading democratic nation in Africa.

“Any attempt to sweep this siege under the carpet by not setting up a judicial panel to determine the role and level of involvement of those who masterminded the shameful act will be resisted by the National Assembly, and by extension, Nigerians,” Misau and Ibrahim submitted.