By Francesca Hangeior

The House of Representatives Committee on National Security and Intelligence has urged the Federal Government to ensure that the total capital allocation, as contained in both the 2024 budget and the 2025 budget estimates, is released to the security agencies.

According to the committee, this will enable the nation’s security agencies to deliver on their constitutional mandate efficiently.

Speaking during Monday’s 2025 budget defence by agencies under the purview of the Office of the National Security Adviser, the Chairman, House Committee on National Security and Intelligence, Ahmed Satomi, said it is regrettable that capital allocation to some of the intelligence agencies in 2024 has not been released, while releases to others fell below expectations.

The Borno lawmaker stated that though allocation to the security sector has improved over the years; the intelligence sub-sector, he noted, has always been underfunded, making it difficult to attain peak service delivery.

Present at the defence session were representatives of the Office of the National Security Adviser, Directorate of State Services, National Intelligence Agency and the Presidential Air Fleets.

Others were the National Centre for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons, National Institute for Security Studies, National Counter Terrorism Centre and the National Cybercrimes Coordination Centre.

Satomi called on the various agencies to work together to ensure the safety of Nigerians and their properties, assuring that the committee will carry out its oversight duty in the interest of Nigerians.

Lauding President Bola Tinubu for allocating N4. 91tn to Defence and Security; the All Progressives Congress lawmaker highlighted the significance of prioritising the intelligence sub-sector in terms of capital allocation in the 2025 fiscal year.

He noted that the intelligence sub-unit was allocated N595bn, with a proposed capital expenditure allocation of N274.55bn, overhead allocation of N107.96bn and personnel allocation of N212.51bn.

He said, “I am calling on the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu, to please intervene not just for an increase in the allocations to the agencies in the intelligence sector but to also direct the Minister of Finance to, as a matter of national security, prioritise the full release of all outstanding 2024 budget allocations to the intelligence agencies and sustain the practice of prompt releases to them going forward.

“It is imperative to note that the 2025 budget (proposal) is christened the ‘Budget of restoration: Securing peace, rebuilding prosperity.’

“Securing peace presupposes that a lot of engagements with citizens will be undertaken by the government at all levels.”

He added, “Deradicalisation, disarmament, rehabilitation and reintegration programmes etc, will have to be carried out as a major non-kinetic initiative by the Federal Government of Nigeria in collaboration with other tiers of government.

“It is therefore not encouraging to observe that the frontline agencies saddled with statutory responsibilities of countering violent extremism, terrorism, ‘illicit flow of small arms and light weapons, intelligence gathering and analysis, maintenance of national security and ensuring the provision of safe, secure and efficient air transportation for the President, Vice President and other notable government officials are negligibly funded.

“Going by the submissions before the committee, it is heartbreaking that an agency like the National Centre for Counter-Terrorism has not gotten any capital release for the year 2023 and year 2024.”

Earlier in his remarks, the Permanent Secretary, Special Services in the Office of the National Security Adviser, Mohammed Danjuma, said the proposed 2025 budget is aimed at tackling evolving security threats facing the nation.

He added that the Tinubu-led government is committed to empowering the security agencies to gather intelligence seamlessly, among other functions.