President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, has again, lamented the growing insecurity in the country.
He said the biggest challenge that the Federal Government must prioritise and tackle at the moment was the menace, by constant engagement with the legislature.
Lawan stated this on Tuesday in a speech he delivered to welcome senators back from the upper chamber’s two-month annual recess.
He said efforts must be made to sustain the fight against insecurity by ensuring adequate funding for security agencies in the 2022 budget.
He said, “Let me applaud and commend our gallant Armed Forces for the recent success recorded in their fight against insurgency and banditry in our Country. I want to urge them to sustain the campaigns until the insurgents and bandits are rooted out in our Country. We approved the supplementary budget request of the Executive in July this year, just before we proceeded for the annual summer recess. The National Assembly approved over N800bn for our security and intelligence agencies. While that provision was appropriate and indeed necessary, we should sustain the trajectory of increase in funds and resources to the security sector. Therefore, we should consider a ramp-up of more resources for our security agencies in the 2022 Appropriation. This also requires that our Defence and Intelligence related Committees must step up their oversight of the Agencies. The fight against the security challenges in our country requires continued engagements between the National Assembly and the Executive arm of Government. It also requires continuous engagements with citizens, for the necessary and desired results to be achieved. We must therefore remain resolute and focused in achieving those. The National Assembly, indeed the Federal Government has no more serious challenges to tackle than insecurity today”