Segun Akanni, Toronto, Canada 
One of the administrative clerks to the senate standing committees, on Friday disobeyed the directive by the Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, that journalists covering the National Assembly should not be restricted from covering the ongoing defence of the 2020 budget by the various ministries, departments and agencies of government. Kabir Yaba Umar, Clerk to the Senate Committee on Special Duties Friday afternoon in a very rude manner ordered journalists out of budget defence session with the North East Development Commission and the National Commission For refugees, Migrants and IDPs.
Umar who had earlier sent an invitation to the Senate Press Corps to cover the budget defence of the two agencies at the Senate Committee Room 211 by 2pm and 4pm respectively shocked the media professional with his unruly behaviour . The clerk walked up to the reporters who were already seated and ordered them to out of the venue in the full glare of the Committee chairman, Senator Yusuf Yusuf, and members of the panel. Members of the Committee included, former Senate Leader, Ali Ndume; a former governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima; and former governor of Yobe State, Ibrahim Geidam and the Senator representing Adamawa North, Elisha Abbo, among others. Umar said he was working on the directive of the Committee chairman to prevent journalists from media organisations except the NTA and the the broadcasting unit of the National Assembly, from covering the event.
The Clerk dared the reporters to write whatever they like because he had the right to determine who should be allowed into the budget defence session or otherwise. He said, “I have already told your colleagues who had been here before you that you guys are not wanted here.
I have the directive of the Chairman to do what I’m doing. “ Asked if he was aware that his action could be reported in the media, Umar said, “Go ahead, I don’t care what you write.” The board and management of the NEDC and the refugee commission were expected to tell Nigerians how they hope to tackle the worsening humanitarian crises and aggravated malnutrition in the insurgency ravaged northeastern part of the country.
The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, had on Monday denied that senate committees were organising secret budget defence sessions with ministries and agencies of government. He had said it was share misrepresentation of fact to say that journalists were not allowed to cover the budget defence sessions going on at the National Assembly. Lawan was reacting to report published in some dailies last week that the media were shut out of the coverage of the budget defence at the various Senate committees.
“There is no shut out of the press from what we do,” Lawan said in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Ola Awoniyi. “We need the press to tell Nigerians what we are doing. You(journalists) are our friends. That was a misunderstanding(of what happened),” Lawan said. The Senate President said it should be expected that journalists, at some point, may be excused from such meetings when sensitive issues that bother on national security are being discussed. “I want to assure Nigerians that whatever we do in this Senate and indeed in this National Assembly is in the best interest of Nigeria.
We will not compromise on anything as far as the national interest is concerned,” Lawan said. The Senate standing order 2015, as amended states in chapter 8(102) on rules of procedure for committees in general states: “Each hearing inducted by each committee or Sub-committee thereof shall be open to the public except when the Committee or sub-committee in opened n session and with a majority present, determines, by roll call shall vote that all or part of the reminder of that hearing on that day shall be closed to the public because disclosure of testimony, evidence or other matters to be considered would endanger national security or would violate any law or rule of the Senate.”
