The Senate has constituted an 18-member ad hoc committee, led by former Abia State governor, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, to investigate the implementation of the Safe School Initiative in the country.
The President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, announced this during plenary on Thursday, naming members of the committee, including Senators Tony Nwoye, Yemi Adaramodu, Harry Ipalibo, Ede Dafinone, Mustapha Saliu, Diket Plang, Binus Yaroe, Kaka Shehu, and Musa Garba Maidoki, among others.
The composition of the committee followed demands by lawmakers after the recent abduction of 25 students from Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, in Kebbi State.
Senators had questioned how funds allocated to the initiative have been utilized, given the continued attacks on educational institutions across the country.
Senator Yahaya Abdullahi (APC Kebbi North), in an urgent motion, said the abduction of the female pupils and the killing of the school vice principal by bandits was “a dirty slap on the face of the nation” that must be seriously addressed.
“This is a wake-up call for the country as far as security and safety are concerned, because a nation that cannot secure its children is not worth living in,” he said.
The need to probe the Safe School Programme, implemented after the Chibok girls’ abduction in 2014, was suggested by the President of the 9th Senate and now chairman of the Committee on Defence, Dr. Ahmad Lawan (APC Yobe North), during his contribution.
According to him, “Since schools are not yet safe and secure for our pupils, there is a need to probe the funds given and how they were expended, as the expected results are not being achieved.”
The Senate mandated the ad hoc committee to conduct a thorough investigation of the Safe School Fund instituted in 2014 and report back within four weeks.