NASS Will Support All Measures To End Insecurity - Lawan

The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan has assured that The National Assembly is determined to provide possible assistance to unmask the perpetrators of insecurity in Nigeria, Senate President Ahmad Lawan has pledged.

Lawan also said as part of its contribution to fight the mecae of insecurity, the National Assembly has passed anti-corruption law to stop illicit financial flows, (IFFs) suspected to be funding routes for insecurity in Nigeria.

The Senate President stated this at the policy dialogue organised by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and its training and research arm, the Anti-Corruption Academy of Nigeria (ACAN), in Abuja on Friday.

According to him, the 8th Assembly passed the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) Bill, which is one of the major anti-corruption laws that saved the country from being expelled from the global body of the Egmont Group.

In the same vein, he noted that the 9th Assembly, working closely with security and law enforcement agencies to further strengthen their capacity to withstand unscrupulous elements involved in criminal and terrorist activities against the state, has passed three bills aimed at combating money laundering, terrorist financing and the proceeds of crime. 

“These three bills are in tandem with this administration's commitment to fight corruption and curb insurgency in the country," he noted.

The Senate President said President Muhammadu Buhari recently gave a marching order to the armed forces to extinguish bandits, kidnappers and other criminal agents against the state and her citizens, by December 2022, adding that "this administration is committed to achieving this set target."

"Accordingly, the past few weeks have seen security agencies flushing out terrorists from their hideouts in Kaduna Birnin-gwari axis, Katsina, Zamfara and Sokoto. Similar results were recorded in Niger, where, like in Kaduna, the Nigerian Airforce neutralised many terrorists.

“Insecurity is a worldwide phenomenon and Nigeria is no exception in this regard. Our Country has been facing the challenge of insecurity, especially insurgency since 2009. Despite the government's efforts to curtail the menace, it has developed other manifestations that have slowed down the sustained assault of the government on this problem.

He added, “Insecurity has placed an enormous demand on our country’s human and material resources, particularly the emergence of the Boko Haram insurgents in the Northeast and banditry in the Northwest. Several other security challenges have since emerged afterwards. “We have been faced with cattle rustling and farmer herder clashes in the middle belt, secessionist agitations in the South East, militancy in the south-south, some of these have now spilled over to other parts of the country.

“The span of these security challenges have profoundly tasked this administration and indeed the nation, and stretched our security and law enforcement apparatus which remains determined and has withstood these challenges with utmost gallantry. But as I have always said, the challenges of our security infrastructure are the concern of all of us and not just those in government alone."

Lawan said legislators have continually supported the effort of the government to tackle insecurity in Nigeria, saying the National assembly has ensured that appropriation for defence and security is improved upon in the past three years.

He commended the ICPC and ACAN for convening the dialogue which he said will further guide the country’s policy direction towards addressing the security challenges.

"Indeed, this policy dialogue is showing us that to summarily deal with the ugliness of insecurity in Nigeria requires more than the deployment of military might.

"We must look at social and economic vices like corruption, that enable and even propagate insecurity. As lawmakers, we look forward to the eventual policy brief that will be shared hereafter to guide the nation’s policy direction in ending insecurity in Nigeria," Lawan urged.

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