By Mercy Aikoye
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas on Tuesday averred that myriad of socio-economic and security challenges ravaging the country, threaten the peace and stability of Nigeria.
In the bid to ensure a paradigm shift, Speaker Abbas affirmed that “the time has come for the President to demand greater performance and accountability from our service chiefs and all security and enforcement agencies.”
He also urged President Tinubu not to shy away from making tough decisions, and if necessary, must not hesitate to enact changes within our security apparatus, for the cost of inaction is far too great to bear.
Abbas who gave the charge while welcoming his contemporaries back from the Christmas/New Year recess, tasked his colleagues to renew their vigour and commitment to serving their constituents and Nigeria.
While noting that 2024 holds great significance in our democratic journey as a nation as it marks 25 years of unbroken democratic governance since 1999, Speaker Abbas argued that this milestone represents the longest period of uninterrupted democratic governance in our nation’s history.
“Indeed, Nigeria stands at a crucial juncture, facing formidable challenges that test our resolve, unity, and spirit. The threats of insurgency are severely testing the peace and stability of our country, the rise in kidnapping for ransom and the unsettling unrest and crises across all the six geo-political zones.
“Families and communities have endured immense hardships, and our hearts go out to all those affected by these tumultuous events. We are particularly saddened by the tragic and senseless murder of our daughters, Nabeeha Al-Kadriyar and Folorunsho Ariyo, the heinous murder of over 30 people in Plateau State, as well as many others who have fallen victim to the mindless acts of terror in the last few weeks.
While applauding members for their dedication and commitment during the deliberations on the 2024 budget of ‘Renewed Hope’ and expeditious consideration and passage of the N28.78 trillion appropriation, Abbas underscored the need to shift “focus towards ensuring the judicious and meticulous implementation of the budget, which is intended to be catalytic in lifting our economy from its current state of stagnation.
“Every committee is tasked with engaging the Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) to oversee the effective execution of the budgetary allocations and ensure that every naira allocated in the budget is utilised efficiently and transparently.
“Our goal is to provide our people with much-needed relief from the current harsh economic realities.
“As we proceed with our legislative duties, our priorities are clear. With our Legislative Agenda set for ourselves, we intend to achieve significant mileage towards actualising the targets across the eight thematic areas.
“In the area of security, the most important challenge before us is to overhaul and strengthen the security architecture to improve overall effectiveness.
“The proposed security summit is expected to make far-reaching recommendations and concrete areas for legislative intervention. Some priority legislative actions in our Agenda include improving oversight of the sector, legislating the establishment of a security sector reform commission to oversee reforms within the sector, introducing stricter penalties for misappropriation, misallocation or any form of financial malpractice within the security sector and passing the whistle-blower protection bill.
“On the counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency, we shall work with the office of the National Security Adviser to strengthen the Anti-terrorism Act to provide guidelines for the prosecution of suspects.”
