Reps panel faults Presidency over ‘abysmal’ funding of intelligence agencies

The House of Representatives Committee on National Security and Intelligence has faulted the Presidency over what it described as poor commitment to national security, citing abysmal funding and weak budget releases to the intelligence sector.

Chairman of the committee, Ahmad Satomi, who raised the concern during the 2026 budget defence session with agencies under the committee, noted a sharp disconnect between President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s promise on security and actual fiscal allocations to the intelligence sector.

Satomi recalled that while the President presented a N58.18 trillion 2026 budget emphasising security as the foundation of development, only N664.12bn was allocated to the intelligence sub-sector, including the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), Department of State Services, National Intelligence Agency, the Presidential Air Fleet and the National Institute for Security Studies out of N5.41trn earmarked for defence and security.

He also criticised resistance by some security agencies to parliamentary oversight, stressing that oversight promotes transparency, accountability and value for money, not antagonism.

Also speaking, Permanent Secretary, Special Services at the Office of the National Security Adviser, Mohammed Sanusi, warned that funding constraints and irregular releases were undermining intelligence operations against terrorism, banditry and emerging transnational crimes.

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