The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, on Wednesday, said the political office holders in the country have failed in their primary assignment of protecting lives and properties.

Speaking at plenary, Mr. Gbajabiamila said office holders, having sworn to protect lives “have failed in our obligation,” each time there is a case of banditry.

He said the emergence of self-help in some geopolitical zones was a result of failure of leadership which poses threats to peaceful co-existence.

Earlier in year, there were upheavals following an ultimatum given to Fulani herdsmen in Ibarapaland of Oyo state to vacate the area.

The order was handed down by a non-state actor, Sunday Adeyemo, alias Igboho, after some kidnappings and killings were linked to the herdsmen.

The speaker, however, noted that it was high time the country shunned ethnicity, religion, concerns of partisanship and politics and focus on combating banditry, communal violence and struggle over land. 

The challenges of insecurity, if not well combatted, according to Mr. Gbajabiamila, would lead to continuous deaths and grief.

He said, “Here in the National Assembly, we do not command any armies or control the police. Command and control of our nation’s security infrastructure is an exclusively executive responsibility. Yet it is to us that our constituents look to when the forces of darkness descend to disrupt their lives, often irreparably.

“We have to reconcile the obligations we owe to our people with the constitutional limitations under which we operate. But we will not shrink from our role as advocates for the forgotten voices, and we will continue to exercise the appropriation and oversight authority vested in us to hold to account those who bear direct responsibility for the protection of all our nation’s people.”

The speaker also stressed that the house, in 2020 initiated legislative action to “build more effective framework for policing accountability.

He further stated that “That process is ongoing, with the Police Service Commission Reform Bill currently making the way through the legislative process,” adding that the house will ensure a bill emerges “without compromising any of the objectives that necessitated our intervention in the first instance.”