By Levinus Nwabughiogu

House of Representatives’ Committee on Defence has asked the Nigerian security agencies including Army, Police to be prudent and accountable in their security spendings.

File: House of Representatives

The Committee also asked them to cooperate with the House to ultimately deliver on the sacred mandate of protecting the lives and property of every Nigerian.

Chairman of the Standing Committee, Hon Babajimi Benson, said this has become necessary in the light of the enormous tasks before both his Committee and the security agencies under him.

In a statement he signed in Abuja on Sunday, the lawmaker who represents Ikorodu Federal Constituency of Lagos State, said the security agencies in the country must live up to the expectations of people.

He said the committee was ready to give them the necessary support through a recent decision of the House to provide a special fund to be approved by the National Assembly outside the national budget for the federal government to continue the fight against insecurity and insurgency.

Recall the recent meeting between the leadership of the House, the Service Chiefs and other head of security organizations where more security concerns were raised.

Appointed in July as the chairman of the House Committee on Defence, Benson vowed to robustly engage the agencies in the course of the next four years of the 9th House to ensure optimality.

“I want to call on the security agencies to be ready to cooperate with us as a committee. We are here to work for Nigerians, to ensure the protection of their lives and property. Of course, the security of the people is paramount, that is why we call on the security agencies to cooperate with us.

“On our part, we will work assiduously to ensure that all the operational needs of the security agencies are met through adequate budgetary provisions. This is a new era, and Nigerians will not accept anything less than good results from us all.

“We will also ensure adequate and attentive oversight, especially of the 2019 budget so that we can evaluate the progress of work for ourselves and come up with the necessary ways of improving things as we prepare to receive the 2020 budget.

“I, therefore, enjoin all the security agencies under the House Committee on Defence to be up and doing. They should be as open as possible to us as parliamentarians, and we would do the same to them.

“We are not unmindful of the enormous tasks ahead of us and the high expectations of Nigerians on us. We have no reason not to deliver. We must get things right as far as security is concerned in this country.

“We acknowledge that the military needs the support of every sector of the society and we all, from traditional rulers, the media, and citizens, have a critical role to play in assisting the country to achieve a secured society,” he said.

Vanguard