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Demands Withdrawal of Police Escorts Attached to Tinubu, Shettima, Others
- Safiu Kehinde
Bauchi State lawmaker, Sen. Abdul Ningi, has fumed over the alleged selective withdrawal of police escorts from public officials and political office holders.
Ningi expressed his displeasure over the development during his address at the Senate’s plenary session on Wednesday.
The lawmaker representing Bauchi Central Senatorial District called for fair implementation of the policy while lamenting over the withdrawal of his police orderly earlier today.
As captured in a video shared on X, Ningi charged President Bola Tinubu to withdraw his own police escort too as well as that of the Vice President, Kashim Shettima, and other public office holders.
He alleged that he recently spotted some Ministers and expatriates with convoys of police escort.
“Mr. President, I’ve been around this National Assembly since 1999 and right from 1999, I was having one police orderly, and I have never requested for any additional security personnel. And I woke up today and I was told my police orderly and other police orderlies are withdrawn.
“Mr. President, I have no problem with that. My problem is that this thing should go across the board. It should be done across the board.
“Let’s see what happens from the office of the President to the Vice President to the Senate President to the Speaker of the House to the Ministers.
“I cannot ever imagine that a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria who has been here for a very long time with only one orderly and he is withdrawn.
“I saw two convoys of Ministers, and they were carrying lots of security personnel. I have also seen business concerns, Chinese, with a compliments of orderlies.
“Mr. President, I have also seen daughters and sons of political office holders having orderlies and security covers.
“Mr. President, I have seen singers having orderlies and complimentary of protections.
“Let me not see governors, ministers, and business owners being covered by security establishment. This is unheard of in any democracy.” The lawmaker said.
While stressing that he could take care of himself, Ningi held that it was unjust for senators to be singled out.
He called on the Senate President to mandate the Committee on Police Affairs to investigate the apparent selective enforcement of the directive.
“The National Assembly should not be used as a scapegoat,” he added.
In response, the Deputy President of the Senate, Barau Jibrin (APC, Kano North), who presided over the session, said the Senate leadership had already deliberated extensively on the matter and was engaging the Presidency to seek an exemption for lawmakers.
Meanwhile, Tinubu had earlier extended the withdrawal of police escorts to his ministers.
NPO Reported that the President had at the Federal Executive Council (NEC) meeting on Wednesday ordered the removal of the police escorts who he directed to be replace by Civil Defense officials.