The House of Representatives on Tuesday summoned the nation’s Service Chiefs and the Minister of Finance to explain how security funds released to the military have been spent. Lawmakers are alarmed that, despite big defence budgets, bandits and kidnappers keep striking across the country — especially in the North‑West.
The move followed motions on rising banditry, kidnappings and attacks on communities, schools and places of worship. Reps warned that huge spending hasn’t stopped deadly raids and mass abductions.
Rep. Ibe Osonwa (Abia, LP) led the charge, lamenting growing kidnappings and attacks on schools and saying the crisis is making the out‑of‑school problem worse. He called the current security response reactive and inadequate despite large public funds.
Rep. Sulaiman Abubakar Gumi (APC, Zamfara) described the North‑West as a humanitarian crisis, citing the abduction of seven students of Federal Polytechnic, Kaura Namoda and two lecturers still held despite ransom payments. He listed deadly attacks in Zamfara, Sokoto, Katsina, Kaduna, Kano, Kebbi and Jigawa and said many communities are deserted.
The House wants the Chief of Defence Staff, the service chiefs and the Finance Minister to detail amounts appropriated and released and explain the impact. Members asked President Bola Tinubu for a more aggressive strategy, urged more troops and equipment to Zamfara and other states, and called for non‑kinetic programmes by four ministries to tackle root causes. Committees must report back in two weeks. Lawmakers warned that continued insecurity amid big spending raises tough questions about accountability.
