The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has tasked the National Assembly to while it will resume from recess, quickly use its legislative powers to summon President Muhammadu Buhari to proffer answers on why the country is ranked the third most terrorism nation on the global index.
A Global Terrorism Index report released by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) has rated Nigeria as the third country with the highest level of terrorism in 2019, after Iran and Afghanistan.
Consequently, the PDP said the security situation in the country has deteriorated and that lives and property are being destroyed anyhow, hence its call for the National Assembly to query the President.
The opposition party through it National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, stated in a statement issued in Abuja, Sunday, that the index has indicated that insecurity is still very high despite Buhari’s promises to tackle it.
“Our position is predicated on the alarming Global Terrorism Index report by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), which ranked Nigeria as the third country with the highest level of terrorism in 2019, after Iran and Afghanistan.
“The PDP says the report is distressing particularly as its indices show that insecurity and deaths from acts of terrorism increased in Nigeria in spite of promises by the current administration.
“The PDP notes that the IEP rating has further confirmed its position that the security of lives and property in our nation has gone beyond what the Buhari administration’s security architecture, as presently composed, can guarantee,” it stated.
According to PDP, the issue of security has gone beyond partisan and sectional sentiments as well as propaganda because it require concerted effort by all stakeholders to compel a review of security structure by Mr. President.
The PDP further noted that if the National Assembly fails to step in by persuading Mr. President to heed wise counsel and rejig his security high command so as to inject new blood, the security challenges shall remain without being tackled.
“The PDP urges the National Assembly to compel President Buhari to take a decisive step in ordering the apprehension and prosecution of perpetrators of acts of terrorism including the mass killing in Benue, Nasarawa, Bauchi, Taraba, Kogi, Adamawa, Borno, Yobe, Zamfara, Kaduna, Ekiti and other parts of the country under the current administration.
“The failure to track down and prosecute the perpetrators of heinous crimes had continued to emboldened marauders, insurgents, bandits and kidnappers to further ravage communities and major highways, beheading compatriots, killing, maiming and taking innocent citizens captives in droves, to the extent that our nation has become the third with the highest level of terrorism in the world.
“Indeed, this is not the way to go. Our party restates that such situation should not have been allowed to fester and degenerate to this abyss.
“While the PDP salutes the gallantry and patriotism of our troops fighting and daily risking their lives in the fronts, our party charges the National Assembly to use its legislative instruments to invite Mr. President Buhari for an appropriate briefing as a prelude to decisive step towards ensuring adequate security in our country,” Ologbondiyan stated in the statement.
Solomon Ayado, Abuja
