The House Committee on National Security and Intelligence on Monday condemned the underfunding of the nation's security and intelligence sector and urged President Bola Tinubu to correct the anomaly in the national interest.
Speaking at the budget defense session of agencies under the office of the National Security Adviser, NSA, in Abuja, the Chairman of the Committee, Ahmed Satomi, appealed to President Tinubu to direct the Minister of Finance to ensure the immediate total liberation of the capital by 2024. allocation to the security and intelligence sector in the general interest of the security of the nation.
Satomi complained that it was regrettable that the allocation of capital to some of the intelligence agencies had not been made public, while the revelations to others had not been encouraging.
According to the lawmaker, although there was a measurable allocation for the security sector, the intelligence sub-sector was grossly underfunded and said the committee would look for ways to ensure an increase in the budget for the sector.
He, however, emphasized the importance of collective efforts to ensure the safety and well-being of Nigerian citizens, adding that the oversight jurisdiction of the Committee encompasses critical agencies that play a vital role in maintaining national security.
According to him, “it is the duty of everyone to ensure that they are adequately equipped to carry out their mandates in a responsible and accountable manner.
He recalled that the President presented the 2025 budget of N49.7 trillion to a joint session of the National Assembly with an expected revenue of N36.35 trillion and a budget deficit of N13.39 trillion.
While commending the President for allocating about N4.91 trillion to the defense and security sector, thereby underlining the priority given to security in the 2025 budget, he lamented that the intelligence sub-sector appears to be underfunded.
According to him, the intelligence sub-sector was allocated N595,024,943,368 billion, of which the proposed allocation for capital expenditure is N274,550,298,453.00, the general allocation received N107,963,187,783, while costs of personnel obtained 212,511,457,132 billion of naira.
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“It is imperative to note that Budget 2025 is baptized as “Restoration Budget: Ensuring Peace, Rebuilding Prosperity.” Ensuring peace presupposes that the government will make many commitments to citizens at all levels.
“Deradicalization, disarmament, rehabilitation and reintegration programmes, etc., shall be carried out as a major non-kinetic initiative by the Federal Government of Nigeria in collaboration with other levels of government.
“It is therefore not encouraging to note that frontline agencies were saddled with statutory responsibilities to combat violent extremism, terrorism, the 'illicit flow of small arms and light weapons, intelligence collection and analysis, maintenance of national security and ensuring the provision of safe and secure services'. and efficient air transportation for the president, vice president, and other notable government officials receives negligible funding.
While speaking, the Permanent Secretary for Special Services in the Office of the National Security Adviser, Mohammed Danjuma, explained that the proposed budget was designed to address the changing security challenges facing the nation, ensuring effective coordination of security agencies, the seamless collection of intelligence and information. sharing and other specialized services to improve National Security.
According to him, the budget would improve coordination and collaboration by strengthening partnerships within security agencies to foster a more cohesive and responsive security architecture; enhance infrastructure development by upgrading existing facilities and operational equipment to support efficient service delivery and ensure capacity building and manpower development by enhancing staff skills and experience to address emerging security challenges.
“It is worth noting that the envelope budget system imposes many restrictions in terms of resource allocation to the community. However, despite this challenge, agencies attempt to strike a balance between their operational needs and the government's fiscal constraints.”
The Permanent Secretary assured the intelligence community's commitment to transparency, accountability and effective resource management by ensuring that budgetary provisions are aligned with the government's overall security objectives.
Agencies in the defense budget include the National Security Advisory Officer, the Directorate of State Services, the National Intelligence Agency, the Presidential Air Fleets, the National Center for the Control of Small and Light Weapons, the National Institute of Studies of Security (NISS), the National Counter Terrorism Center and the National Cyber Crime Coordination Center.