The House of Representatives’ Committee on Internal Security has raised a serious alarm over threats by terrorists aimed at the National Assembly complex in Abuja.
During a public hearing on a bill to establish a Legislative Security Directorate, the committee chairman, Garba Muhammad, revealed: “We have received threats from terrorists to bomb the National Assembly complex and threats from protesters to lock up the National Assembly.”
He warned that such threats, coupled with security lapses including unauthorised access by visitors and weak perimeter control, put legislative functions at risk. “If proper measures are not taken, there will be no representation, no oversight, no annual budget, no plenary at all — and that will destabilise the legislative process, democracy, and the nation at large,” he said.
The proposed bill — titled “A Bill for an Act to Provide for the Establishment and the Functions of the Legislative Security Directorate in the National Assembly” — is designed to bolster security architecture for lawmakers, staff, visitors and property within the complex.
While the Assembly must remain accessible to the public, lawmakers emphasised the necessity of upgraded safeguards: “Legislators are exposed to threats from constituents and others who gain easy access to their offices without any formal appointment.”
Authorities including the Nigeria Police Force and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps have reportedly expressed concerns about overlapping duties should a separate security directorate be established.
