Follow Us on Google
From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The House of Representatives has stated that oversight of intelligence agencies by parliament is not antagonistic but an avenue for citizens to engage in security governance through their elected representatives.
The Chairman, House Committee on National Security and Intelligence, Ahmad Satomi, stated this while speaking at a budget defence session with intelligence agencies on Wednesday.
Satomi stated that the objectives of the government for national security cannot be actualised unless there is synergy between the Executive and the Legislature.
He explained that the 1999 Constitution (as amended) empowered the parliament to make laws for the peace and good governance of the country and to oversee agencies.
“A situation where security and intelligence agencies view the legislature as meddlesome interlopers whenever legislative committees try to carry out legislative oversight of the security sector is anti-productive and an ill wind that does not do any good to the country.
“Sections 4, 60, 62, 80, 81, 88, 89 and 218 of the Constitution clearly and unambiguously empowered the National Assembly to make laws for the peace, order and good governance of the Federation and carry out oversight responsibilities on the agencies of government.
“Oversight does not mean antagonism, hostility or witch hunts, but rather it helps to get the Nigerian people to participate in security governance through their elected representatives. This engenders citizens’ trust and appreciation of our men and women in the security sector, ensures transparency, accountability and value for money in the execution of government projects, programmes and policies in the sector,” he stated.
Furthermore, the lawmaker added that
“It is therefore regrettable to observe the resistance of some agencies to parliamentary oversight responsibility. I dare say that not everything should be classified for the leadership and members of standing committees overseeing security and intelligence agencies.
“I therefore call for a change of attitude from the affected agencies so that together and as partners in nation building, we can carry out the primary responsibility of government, which is the provision of welfare and security to every Nigerian. No one arm of government can do it alone.”
Satomi, while decrying what he described as the abysmal allocation to security, stated that releases to the defence and security sector do not match President Bola Tinubu’s declaration on security when he addressed a joint session of the National Assembly last year.
“Looking at the 2026 budget proposal, defence and security are allocated 5.41 trillion naira. The intelligence subsector comprising the Office of the NSA and its agencies, the Department of State Services, the National Intelligence Agency, the Presidential Air Fleet and the National Institute for Security Studies is allocated a total of N664,119,740 for their personnel, overhead and capital expenditures in 2026.
“Further breakdown shows that personnel cost for all the agencies in the intelligence sector for 2026 is N245,941,663,329; total overhead cost proposal is N131,273,507.85; and total proposed capital expenditure is N286,904,549,354.
“These allocations are indeed very abysmal and do not seem to match the intent of the speech delivered by the president to the joint session of the National Assembly on December 19th, 2025.”
