By Nathaniel Zaccheaus, Abuja
The Senate on Wednesday signalled a significant shift in Nigeria’s approach to tackling insecurity, endorsing far-reaching reforms anchored on the establishment of state police, intelligence-led operations and the extensive deployment of modern technology to confront the country’s escalating security challenges.
The resolutions followed the unanimous adoption of the report of the Senate Ad-hoc Committee on the National Security Summit, presented at plenary by the Chairman of the panel and Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele. The session was presided over by the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio.
All observations and recommendations contained in the report were approved without dissent, underscoring a rare bipartisan consensus on the urgency of overhauling Nigeria’s security framework.
Presenting the report, Bamidele disclosed that stakeholders drawn from across the six geo-political zones commended the National Assembly for convening the security summit, describing it as a timely and courageous legislative intervention in response to the country’s worsening security situation.
The committee observed that Nigeria’s existing security architecture remains largely reactive, leaving security agencies ill-equipped to deal with increasingly sophisticated 21st-century threats. It noted that insecurity is being driven by multiple factors, including illegal mining, porous borders, unemployment, poverty, drug abuse, illiteracy, radicalisation, weak intelligence gathering and vast ungoverned spaces where government presence is either weak or non-existent.
According to the report, persistent profiling of citizens along ethnic, regional and religious lines has eroded national cohesion and slowed development, while perceived marginalisation in public appointments has fuelled agitation, resentment and mistrust in many parts of the country.
The panel also lamented the devastating losses suffered by victims of violent attacks, including the destruction of ancestral lands, livelihoods and cultural heritage sites, and called for urgent measures to ensure recovery, restitution and the rebuilding of affected communities.
At the heart of the committee’s recommendations is a proposed constitutional amendment to decentralise policing by creating state police.
The report argued that this reform aligns with the recognition of governors and local government chairmen as chief security officers of their respective domains and would enhance local intelligence gathering, early warning systems and rapid response.
The Senate further recommended strengthening vigilante groups and establishing ward-level security liaison committees to complement formal security agencies at the grassroots.
Lawmakers also called for a comprehensive redesign of the national security architecture to prioritise prevention rather than reaction, with improved inter-agency collaboration and intelligence sharing among the military, police, Department of State Services, immigration, customs, civil defence, intelligence agencies, traditional institutions and community groups through joint operations centres.
To address the root causes of insecurity, the committee proposed the creation of a National Youth Stabilisation Fund focused on conflict-affected areas to tackle unemployment, poverty, drug addiction and radicalisation.
It also urged stricter regulation of mining activities to curb illegal operations often linked to armed groups.
On technology, the report advocated massive investment in surveillance infrastructure, including drones, CCTV cameras, and sensors along borders and in forests, alongside improved communication systems, patrol mobility, and rapid response capabilities.
It further recommended the establishment of mobile courts to ensure speedy justice and the fast-tracking of a National Security and Recovery Bill to rebuild conflict-ravaged communities.
The Senate also emphasised the role of traditional and religious institutions as critical security stakeholders, the need to curb extremist preaching, the protection of forests through a proposed Forest Guards Bill, and the full implementation of local government autonomy to strengthen grassroots governance.
With the adoption of the report, the Senate reaffirmed its resolve to pursue sweeping legislative and constitutional reforms aimed at restoring peace, rebuilding public trust and securing lives and property across the country.
*Moves to scrap multiple budgets
In a separate but related development, the Senate advanced a primary fiscal reform agenda by passing, for second reading, a bill seeking to repeal and re-enact the 2024/2025 Appropriation Act, a move designed to end the long-standing practice of running multiple budgets concurrently and to strengthen accountability in public finance management.
The proposed amendment bill, if enacted, will reset the federal spending framework to ₦43.56 trillion for the 2024/2025 fiscal period.
A breakdown of the proposed expenditure shows ₦1.74 trillion earmarked for statutory transfers, ₦8.27 trillion for debt servicing, ₦11.27 trillion for recurrent (non-debt) expenditure, and ₦22.28 trillion for capital expenditure and development fund contributions.
As part of legislative scrutiny, the Senate directed the Minister of Finance, Mr Olawale Edun; the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Atiku Bagudu; and the Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Dr Zacch Adedeji, alongside other key officials, to appear before the Senate Committee on Appropriations to provide clarification on the revised expenditure framework.
Leading the debate, Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele described the proposal as a structural, reform-driven intervention aimed at restoring order to Nigeria’s budgeting process.
According to him, the bill seeks to halt what he termed the “unhealthy practice” of operating overlapping budget cycles, which has historically undermined clarity, weakened fiscal discipline and blurred accountability across ministries, departments and agencies.
Bamidele explained that the amendment would provide a precise, lawful appropriation mechanism that enables the government to consolidate and regularise critical, time-sensitive expenditures, particularly those incurred during emergencies.
He stressed that while urgent public spending may sometimes be inevitable, it must not erode legislative oversight or fiscal prudence, adding that the bill balances responsiveness with responsibility.
The Senate leader noted that the proposed law reinforces fiscal discipline, transparency and prudent public financial management by mandating that all appropriated funds be released and applied strictly for approved purposes.
Virement, he said, would only be permitted with prior legislative approval.
“These provisions reaffirm the constitutional power of the purse vested in the legislature and ensure executive flexibility does not translate into fiscal opacity or abuse,” Bamidele said.
Following the debate, the Senate, presided over by Deputy Senate President Senator Barau I. Jibrin, passed the bill for second reading and referred it to the Senate Committee on Appropriations, chaired by Senator Solomon Adeola, with a mandate to report back within two days.
*Dismantles colonial audit regime
Meanwhile, the Senate concluded legislative work on a landmark amendment that dismantles Nigeria’s decades-old colonial audit framework, repealing the 1956 Audit Ordinance and replacing it with a modern public finance oversight system.
The new legislation, titled the Federal Audit Service Bill, 2025, scraps the pre-independence law enacted under British colonial administration and introduces a comprehensive audit regime aligned with Nigeria’s constitutional democracy and contemporary governance standards.
Presenting the concurrence bill, Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele said the law establishes the Federal Audit Service and the Federal Audit Board, while reinforcing the independence, powers, and operational autonomy of the Auditor-General for the Federation.
He noted that the colonial-era ordinance had become grossly inadequate for Nigeria’s complex public finance architecture and accountability expectations.
“The need to repeal the Audit Ordinance Act cannot be overemphasised. It was enacted for a colonial administrative structure and is no longer suitable for Nigeria’s constitutional democracy,” Bamidele said.
According to him, the new law aligns Nigeria’s audit system with international best practices, strengthens legislative oversight, boosts anti-corruption efforts and enhances public confidence in the management of government finances.
At the same plenary, the Senate also concluded consideration of the Institute of Economists of Nigeria (Establishment) Bill, 2025, which seeks to regulate professional standards, qualifications and ethical conduct within the economics profession.
Bamidele said the institute would promote professionalism, capacity development and high-quality economic research in line with global best practices.
Both bills, he added, represent critical reforms aimed at strengthening public financial accountability, professional regulation and sustainable economic development.
