Senators Disagree Over Composition Of Defence, Security Councils

Some Senators disagreed on Tuesday over whether or not the South East region has adequate representation in the National Defence Council and National Security Council.

This followed a motion sponsored by Senator Victor Umeh who represents Anambra Central Senatorial district at the National Assembly.

Senator Umeh called for the urgent need to appoint a representative of the South East into both councils, for purposes of equal representation.

The action of the lawmaker was, however, criticised by his colleague from Kano North, Senator Jibrin Barau.

Barau who read the composition of the National Security Council to the hearing of the lawmakers accused Umeh of misleading the red chamber.

He pointed out that the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Geoffrey Onyeama, who is from the South East is a member of the National Security Council.

The Senate President, Bukola Saraki, then ruled that the matter be put on hold, to avoid further confusion.

The disagreement is the second in the upper chamber in one week.

Some senators had disagreed on Wednesday last week when Senate President Bukola Saraki declined the request of former Senate Minority Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio, to make a contribution to a matter raised by Senator Bassey Akpan.

The dispute was between lawmakers of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and their colleagues of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The situation was eventually calmed after the Clerk made some clarifications.