How not to present committee report

The description of Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom as a ‘drowning man’ on live television by Police Spokesperson, Jimoh Moshood, bore the imprimatur of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Ibrahim Idris.

A glace at the report of the IGP presented to the Joint Senate Committee on Police Affairs and National Security and Intelligence presented revealed the disdain the police chief has for the Benue Governor.

In his presentation to the joint committee, Idris attributed the killing of 73 individuals in Benue State to the ‘unfriendly’ Anti-Grazing law enacted by the state government.

The refusal of the Presidency to attend the mass burial of the individuals also indicated that it was scared of the backlash of such event and its negative impact on its electoral fortunes at the next general elections. The IGP drove home this point when he declared in his 18-page report that: “The public display of corpses, couple with unguarded and inciting speeches by the Benue State Governor before and during the mass burial of the victims of the crisis…. renewed tension leading to youth of Tiv ethnic group unleashing violent attacks on the residents of Wadata, Wurukum, Northbank, and Angwan Jukun areas of Makurdi”.

The IG’s report went further to call for the ‘disbandment and disarming’ of ‘livestock guards’ and ‘Tiv militias’ while excluding Fulani herdsmen.

Chairman of the joint committee Abu Ibrahim, an APC member from  President Muhammadu Buhari’s home state of Katsina, seemed to have carried out a haphazard job, as the panel shockingly adopted some of the recommendations of the IGP.

For instance, the IG called for “Adequate funding and increase in manpower for the Nigeria Police Force in other to meet all the requirements for effective policing of the nation”, while the committee recommended that a percentage of Excess Crude Account (ECA) be made available to fund the Force.

It is an open secret that the Katsina lawmaker has been tipped as a minister. He was also among the first lawmakers that endorsed Buhari for second term. All these factors may have clouded his sense of judgement at presenting a skewed document which was rejected by his colleagues.

To give a picture of how unpopular the report was among senators, only nine out of the twenty-three member committee endorsed the document, representing 39 percent. They include Abu Ibrahim, Mohammed Lafiagi, Bayero Nafada, Abdullahi Gumel, Emmanuel Bwacha, Abdul-Aziz Nyako, Emmanuel Paulker, Suleiman Adokwe and Ovie Omo-Agege.

On the other hand, fourteen members refused to sign the report, representing 61 percent. They include: Stella Oduah, Jonah Jang, Kabiru Gaya, Adamu Aliero, Theodore Orji, Danjuma La’ah, Nelson Efiong, David Mark, Sola Adeyeye, Obinna Ogba, Magnus Abe, Isah Hamma Misau, Yele Omogunwa and Gbenga Ashafa.

The last straw that broke the camel’s back was the inability of the committee to speak with the Benue State Governor.

With the rejection of the report, the panel is expected to speak with the governor and present its findings this week.

Meanwhile, the National Security Summit comes to an end on Monday with a communique expected to be issued.

Top on the table is the call for state police canvassed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

As laudable and the idea may be, I strongly believe the Number Two citizen is playing to the gallery.

The call is not only belated but a ploy to hoodwink Nigerians ahead of the 2019 general elections. The development raises more questions than answers. Was Osinbajo expressing his personal views or that of President Buhari? Why hasn’t the Executive presented a bill to the National Assembly for state police? What is the input of the Executive in the ongoing constitution amendment exercise? Why wait towards the twilight of the administration to make this position? Why wait till the current constitution amendment has reached advanced stage?

The next few weeks promises to be interesting as Senate President Bukola Saraki gave matching order to various ad-hoc panels to turn in their reports before the end February. They include: Ad-Hoc Committee on the NEITI 2013 Audit Report; Ad-Hoc Committee to investigate the Alleged Misuse, Under-remittance and other Fraudulent Activities in Revenue Collection by Revenue Collection Agencies; Ad-Hoc Committee on Southern Kaduna Crisis and Other Parts of the Country; Ad-Hoc Committee on the State of Humanitarian Relief Efforts in the North East; Ad-Hoc Committee on the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS); Ad-Hoc Committee on the Attempted Assassination of Dino Melaye; Ad-Hoc Committee on the issue of Accommodation, Logistics, Feeding, Onshore and Offshore; Ad-Hoc Committee to Investigate various allegations leveled against the Nigerian Police; Ad-Hoc Committee to Investigate Various Allegations Leveled Against NNPC GMD, Maikanti Baru.

OWEDE AGBAJILEKE, Abuja