Lawan: N’Assembly Will Approve Extra-budgetary Funds To Fight Insecurity

*Says NDDC board to wait till completion of forensic
audit

The leadership of the National Assembly on Monday gave an
assurance that it will approve extra-budgetary request of the
Executive for the security agencies to wage a total war on the
rising level of insecurity in the country.

It also stated that the composition of a new board for the Niger
Delta Development Commission (NDDC) may have to wait until the
on-going forensic audit of the agency is completed and its report
submitted to the Presidency for necessary action.

The Chairman of the National Assembly and President of the
Senate, Dr Ahmad Lawan, who made this disclosure while speaking
with newsmen at the Presidential Villa, Abuja after a closed-door
meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, stated that the federal
government is headed in the right direction with its latest moves
to fight security challenges across the country.

According to him, the legislative arm will approve budgetary
proposals for more funds to be released from the excess crude
account to the security agencies to procure more weapons in the
fight against insurgency and other security matters facing the
nation.

He said: “You’ll recall that the National Economic Council
approved of taking some funds from the Excess Crude Accounts with a
view to giving more resources to our armed forces. This is a
commendable effort and we are ready to help with appropriation to
ensure that we acquire those security weapons for the armed forces
of this country to end this insecurity in the North-east, in the
North-west, in the South-east/South-south and South-west as
well.

“We believe that this is also going to help empower and build
the capacity of other security agencies like the police because the
police need to be there. They’re supposed to maintain the internal
security and whenever the armed forces secure an environment, the
police should be there to stay put and make sure there is law and
order.”

Lawan explained that he had fruitful deliberation with the
president on the need to secure all parts of the country,
especially the rural areas ahead of the planting season for
farmers.

“We had a very extensive discussion on the security of all parts
of Nigeria and how we should go about improving the situation. We
all have roles to play. Nobody would like to see the kind of things
that we experience in various parts of the country in the form of
insecurity.

“As political leaders, we have responsibilities to our people
and we cannot shy away from that. We have to get our people
secured; we have to secure the environment for them to earn their
means of livelihood; we’ll like to see our farmers go back to farms
before the rainy season starts.

“This means we have to secure the rural parts of Nigeria as well
as the urban centres because we need businesses to flourish. So I
believe that between now and probably the next two months, there
will be a lot of activities to ensure that we recover and secure
the environments for our people to lead a very normal life,” he
said.

The Senate President also stressed the need for Nigerians to
live in any part of the country irrespective of where the people
come from in the spirit of one Nigeria.

“I want to point out very clearly that Nigerian citizens believe
in Nigeria so strongly and that is why you will find an Igbo man, a
South-easterner in the remotest parts of northern Nigeria.

“That’s why you will find a Hausa man in faraway South-west or
South-east or South-south and probably even marry from those areas.
Probably he will be selling cola nuts, but he believes that this is
Nigeria and he can live peacefully and make a family. You will find
a Yoruba man in faraway South-eastern or northern Nigeria, maybe
even becoming an indigene.

“I was born and brought up in Gashua. Gashua is in Yobe State.
There is one Kalega family, and I want to use this as an example of
how people can be integrated. The Kalega family lived in Gashua for
almost 100 years. We were born to see the family like that. I
earned a scholarship from my state, the Kalega family members
earned the same scholarship. In fact, they are indigenous Bade
Local Government, my main local government.

“So we have this Nigerianess in our citizens. As political
leaders, we are supposed to ensure that we support this kind of
feeling by giving everybody a protection; if a Yoruba man,
South-westerner, decides to live in faraway Sokoto, he should be
protected. If a Hausa man decides to live in faraway Bonny or Port
Harcourt, he should be protected, and so on and so forth because
this is how we will be able to use our diversity to weave it into a
capacity to make Nigeria a big and successful nation,” he said.

Lawan also mentioned the issue of the non-composition of the
NDDC board which he said was discussed with the president and that
the board will have to wait until the forensic audit is
completed.

According to him, those found culpable in the mismanagement of
NDDC funds will face the music once the audit report is submitted
to the Presidency.

He said: “We also had discussions on the need to ensure that
government functions very well. We have few issues, these are house
keeping issues of getting the NDDC governing board nominations and
I agree with Mr. President that we have to end the forensic audit
to ensure that everything is done properly and the report is
submitted to him.

“It is very significant that whoever is found culpable should be
treated as such so as to serve as a lesson and as a deterrent to
others because NDDC should have transformed the Niger Delta into a
better environment than what it has been.

“NDDC was created by a law of the National Assembly since 2000
or so, and we are talking about how many years now, we are we are
talking about almost two decades. That should have given sufficient
time, given the resources that were deployed into the NDDC. So we
need to sanitise the NDDC and get the resources fully deployed in
developing the area in the Niger Delta.”

*Says NDDC board to wait till completion of forensic
audit

The leadership of the National Assembly on Monday gave an
assurance that it will approve extra-budgetary request of the
Executive for the security agencies to wage a total war on the
rising level of insecurity in the country.

It also stated that the composition of a new board for the Niger
Delta Development Commission (NDDC) may have to wait until the
on-going forensic audit of the agency is completed and its report
submitted to the Presidency for necessary action.

The Chairman of the National Assembly and President of the
Senate, Dr Ahmad Lawan, who made this disclosure while speaking
with newsmen at the Presidential Villa, Abuja after a closed-door
meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, stated that the federal
government is headed in the right direction with its latest moves
to fight security challenges across the country.

According to him, the legislative arm will approve budgetary
proposals for more funds to be released from the excess crude
account to the security agencies to procure more weapons in the
fight against insurgency and other security matters facing the
nation.

He said: “You’ll recall that the National Economic Council
approved of taking some funds from the Excess Crude Accounts with a
view to giving more resources to our armed forces. This is a
commendable effort and we are ready to help with appropriation to
ensure that we acquire those security weapons for the armed forces
of this country to end this insecurity in the North-east, in the
North-west, in the South-east/South-south and South-west as
well.

“We believe that this is also going to help empower and build
the capacity of other security agencies like the police because the
police need to be there. They’re supposed to maintain the internal
security and whenever the armed forces secure an environment, the
police should be there to stay put and make sure there is law and
order.”

Lawan explained that he had fruitful deliberation with the
president on the need to secure all parts of the country,
especially the rural areas ahead of the planting season for
farmers.

“We had a very extensive discussion on the security of all parts
of Nigeria and how we should go about improving the situation. We
all have roles to play. Nobody would like to see the kind of things
that we experience in various parts of the country in the form of
insecurity.

“As political leaders, we have responsibilities to our people
and we cannot shy away from that. We have to get our people
secured; we have to secure the environment for them to earn their
means of livelihood; we’ll like to see our farmers go back to farms
before the rainy season starts.

“This means we have to secure the rural parts of Nigeria as well
as the urban centres because we need businesses to flourish. So I
believe that between now and probably the next two months, there
will be a lot of activities to ensure that we recover and secure
the environments for our people to lead a very normal life,” he
said.

The Senate President also stressed the need for Nigerians to
live in any part of the country irrespective of where the people
come from in the spirit of one Nigeria.

“I want to point out very clearly that Nigerian citizens believe
in Nigeria so strongly and that is why you will find an Igbo man, a
South-easterner in the remotest parts of northern Nigeria.

“That’s why you will find a Hausa man in faraway South-west or
South-east or South-south and probably even marry from those areas.
Probably he will be selling cola nuts, but he believes that this is
Nigeria and he can live peacefully and make a family. You will find
a Yoruba man in faraway South-eastern or northern Nigeria, maybe
even becoming an indigene.

“I was born and brought up in Gashua. Gashua is in Yobe State.
There is one Kalega family, and I want to use this as an example of
how people can be integrated. The Kalega family lived in Gashua for
almost 100 years. We were born to see the family like that. I
earned a scholarship from my state, the Kalega family members
earned the same scholarship. In fact, they are indigenous Bade
Local Government, my main local government.

“So we have this Nigerianess in our citizens. As political
leaders, we are supposed to ensure that we support this kind of
feeling by giving everybody a protection; if a Yoruba man,
South-westerner, decides to live in faraway Sokoto, he should be
protected. If a Hausa man decides to live in faraway Bonny or Port
Harcourt, he should be protected, and so on and so forth because
this is how we will be able to use our diversity to weave it into a
capacity to make Nigeria a big and successful nation,” he said.

Lawan also mentioned the issue of the non-composition of the
NDDC board which he said was discussed with the president and that
the board will have to wait until the forensic audit is
completed.

According to him, those found culpable in the mismanagement of
NDDC funds will face the music once the audit report is submitted
to the Presidency.

He said: “We also had discussions on the need to ensure that
government functions very well. We have few issues, these are house
keeping issues of getting the NDDC governing board nominations and
I agree with Mr. President that we have to end the forensic audit
to ensure that everything is done properly and the report is
submitted to him.

“It is very significant that whoever is found culpable should be
treated as such so as to serve as a lesson and as a deterrent to
others because NDDC should have transformed the Niger Delta into a
better environment than what it has been.

“NDDC was created by a law of the National Assembly since 2000
or so, and we are talking about how many years now, we are we are
talking about almost two decades. That should have given sufficient
time, given the resources that were deployed into the NDDC. So we
need to sanitise the NDDC and get the resources fully deployed in
developing the area in the Niger Delta.”