• Reps probe security intervention funds since 2020
• ‘Tinubu here to restore dignity, excellence of security agents’
A South-West socio-political group, Yoruba Ronu Leadership Forum, yesterday, urged President Bola Tinubu to address the country on the recent statement credited to United States President Donald Trump, threatening to deploy troops to target terrorist hideouts allegedly responsible for the killing of Christians in Nigeria.
This was as the House of Representatives commenced a probe into all security intervention funds disbursed by the Federal Government from 2020 to date.
Meanwhile, the Chairman, National Economic Council (NEC) Committee on the Revamp of Police and Other Security Training Institutions, Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State, said setting up the committee represents President Tinubu’s commitment to urgently restore the dignity and excellence of the police and other security agencies.
In a statement issued yesterday, President of Yoruba Ronu, Akin Malaolu, said: “Following the threats by Trump over the incessant killings of a particular religious sect in Nigeria, we have noticed confusion within government circles, where ministers appear to play down the ongoing genocide, instead of the President himself addressing the concerns diplomatically to douse tensions.”
Malaolu lamented that some key ministers worsened the situation by making unguarded and provocative remarks in response to the threat. He said: “The key issue, which is terrorism, has been lost in the counter-arguments so far. It is clear that some in leadership positions, particularly within the Tinubu administration, believe they can make reckless statements without considering future consequences on themselves or the government they serve.
“The question of whether there are genocides or not cannot be swept under the carpet. There are genocides, and the lukewarm attitude of security agencies makes it appear as though they do not care.”
He, therefore, appealed to the President to personally address Nigerians on the matter, while all aides and ministers should “focus on their official duties rather than issuing divisive statements.”
THE House vowed to ensure transparency, accountability and fiscal discipline in the management of resources meant to protect Nigerians. Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Expenditure of All Intervention Funds on Security, Zakaria Nyampa, disclosed this at the inauguration of the committee yesterday in Abuja.
Nyampa said the investigation was necessitated by the widening gap between huge budgetary allocations to the security sector and the continuing wave of insecurity across the country.
According to him, the investigation is not a witch-hunt, saying that the duty of the lawmakers is to ensure that every naira released for security serves its purposeto safeguard lives and property. He said: “Over the years, the Federal Government has made substantial budgetary allocations and released multiple intervention funds aimed at addressing Nigeria’s complex security challenges, from insurgency in the North-East, banditry and kidnapping in the North-West, to militancy, piracy and separatist threats in other regions.
“While these funds were designed to strengthen operational readiness, improve intelligence capacity and equip our security agencies, persistent insecurity across the country raises fundamental questions about the efficiency, transparency and impact of such expenditures.”
It is within this context, he added, that the House, exercising its powers under Sections 88 and 89 of the Constitution, resolved to constitute this ad hoc committee to investigate the disbursement, management and utilisation of all security intervention funds released to Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) from 2020 to date.
The probe, he explained, will cover all intervention heads, special allocations and procurement processes undertaken by beneficiary agencies. Earlier, the Speaker, Tajudeen Abbas, reaffirmed the commitment of the House of Representatives to accountability, probity, and the utilisation of all security interventions in Nigeria.
Abbas, represented by Deputy Chief Whip Ibrahim Isiaka, stated that the creation of the committee was a demonstration of the House’s unwavering commitment to accountability in matters of national security.
GOVERNOR Mbah stressed that the nation could not, in good conscience, demand integrity and excellence from the security agents without first modelling those values in their training facilities.
The governor stated these yesterday, when members of the committee toured the Police Training School, Nonwa, in Tai local Council of Rivers State, maintaining that “this initiative re-echoes the President’s passion for getting things done fast.”
This was despite the Commandant of the school, ACP Daniel Okere, explaining that the institution, which was apparently in a very poor state, had trained men and women of the police force in 2022.
Mbah, who was accompanied by a member of the committee, Dapo Abiodun; Secretary of the committee and former IGP, Baba Usman; and the host governor, Siminalayi Fubara, however, assured that the committee would not only ensure the proper capture of all that is needed to turn the institutions around, but equally oversee their reconstruction and re-equipping to meet 21st-century standards.
Governor Fubara, on his part, assured that the country would get it right now.
“I am sure we are going to get it right. At the end of the day, the police will be motivated to act professionally like any other police in the world,” he said.
