Senate President Ahmad Lawan, has commended the Buhari administration for providing adequate funds and military hardware to security agencies aimed at protecting all citizens across the country.
Addressing State House correspondents on Wednesday in Abuja, Lawan particularly saluted President Muhammadu Buhari for putting in place necessary measures to secure the country.
He said, ‘‘I commend the President for providing much funds for our Armed Forces to secure Nigeria.
“Of course, we have been experiencing a lot of insecurity, but you must credit this government with the fact that when it came in 2015.
“The Northeast, particularly Borno, Yobe, and Adamawa, were under the occupation and I use the word occupation deliberately and purposefully, under the occupation of the insurgents, Boko Haram.
“Many of our Local Governments were under the control of Boko Haram, but Mr. President, decidedly, approached the matter and by two years we could say that Boko Haram was technically defeated.
“Today, it’s not technically defeated, but practically defeated.
“Our states are free, have been liberated. Of course, we experience other security issues in the Northwest, in the North Central and to some extent in the Southeast,” he said.
Lawan, who had earlier witnessed the inauguration of the 2023 Emblem Appeal Launch by the President, emphasized that the Armed Forces had been able to achieve a lot because no administration had given them the kind of support they enjoyed under President Buhari.
“But aren’t we doing something as an administration, we are doing so much and our Armed Forces are sacrificing everything with the little that we’re giving them.
“But this is the administration that has spent so many resources on the Armed Forces to ensure we secure the country.
“Mr President promised several times that before he leaves in May 2023, he would ensure that he leaves behind a more and better secured Nigeria.
“The best and only most logical thing to do, for us in the National Assembly, is to also participate in that enterprise of ensuring that we provide resources for the armed forces and other security agencies to continue to fight the insecurity that we face and it’s something that is doable,” he said.
The Senate President also appealed to all citizens to support the Armed Forces.
“It’s a matter of determination and I’m taking this opportunity here to appeal to all Nigerians, that we must at all times, support our Armed Forces, at all times identify with what they are doing.
“These are people who give their lives. Some of them lose their lives, some are maimed, lose their limbs, and therefore they deserve, not only empathy, but the kind of support that will give them the sense that the citizens are behind them.
“I believe that that’s going to go a long way in making them feel that we are in this thing together,” he added.
Lawan reiterated the determination of the National Assembly to continue to support the nation’s Armed Forces to overcome the security challenges confronting Nigeria.
According to him, the legislature will also give its financial assistance to the families of fallen heroes and veterans.
“First of all, this entire event is for Mr President to launch the appeal fund for the remembrance of the veterans of this country and of course, you will recall that the President donated a sum of N10 million for this.
“We in the legislature normally do our own contribution, but I always like to do that from the headquarters of the National Assembly, that’s the National Assembly complex.
‘“This is because we are a separate arm of government and I feel that this is not the right place to say what we will do to support our veterans.