Senate suspends passage of anti-terrorism bill

The Senate, on Wednesday, set aside the passage of the conference report on Terrorism Amendment Bill amidst arguments over the status of the Office of National Security Adviser, as the coordinating office of the fight against terrorism. The conference committee had adopted the version by the House of Representatives which recommended that the NSA’s office should coordinate  the war against terrorism.
The report said, “In Clause 2, new Section 1a was inserted immediately after Section 1 of the principal Act. This new provision deals with National Coordinating Bodies in counter terrorism offences and designates specific institutions and vest specific powers and functions, that is, the office of the National Security Adviser, the Attorney General of the Federation and relevant law enforcement and security agencies.”
A point of order raised by Senator Ita Enang created some agitation at plenary, as he questioned the legality of the Office of the National Security Adviser.
He said, “The Office of the NSA does not exist in law. The National Assembly cannot make laws for the office.”
He noted that the National Assembly could not dictate to the President on which of the agencies should coordinate the activities and called for the rejection of the section of the report.
President of the Senate, David Mark, however noted that the report could not be reviewed because it was a conference report between the two chambers.
Senators continued to raise their voices  for and against Enang’s observations.
Leader of the Senate, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, was forced to call for the stepping down of the report for another legislative day.
He said, “In view of the stormy session that we have found ourselves in, I move that the report be set aside for further legislative work to calm the waters.”