Nigeria’s intelligence apparatus is outdated, must be reviewed - Panel tells FG
- A panel set up to review the structure of the National Intelligence Agency following the Osborne Towers saga has reported that the agency needs to be reviewed
- The panel reported that after being in operation for 31 years, the NIA needed to be reviewed as it had become dysfunctional
- The panel urged the federal government to set up a high-level panel to undertake an in-depth holistic review of the Nigerian security and intelligence architecture
A report submitted to President Muhammadu Buhari has recommended a review of the ‘dysfunctional’ national security apparatus.
According to Daily Trust, the report was put together by a panel led by Ambassador Baba Gana Kingibe, former foreign affairs minister, which was set up following the Osborne Towers saga.
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After the discovery of $43 million stashed in an apartment in Osborne Towers, Ikoyi, an investigative panel headed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo had recommended the sack of the then director general of the National Intelligence Agency, as the agency had claimed that the money was approved by ex-president Goodluck Jonathan for covert operations.
Legit.ng gathers that following the scandal, the presidency had put together the Kingibe panel to review the operational, technical and administrative structure of the NIA.
In its report which was submitted on December 19, 2017, the panel stated that after being in operation for 31 years, it was necessary for the NIA to be reviewed.
It stated: “Indeed, it is observed that the present security architecture has now become almost dysfunctional. The principal pillars which support it seem to operate in parallel lines and without the synergy or guidance, to be normally provided by the ONSA (Office of the National Security Adviser).
“The consequence is an inter-agency rivalry playing out in full public glare.”
It continued: “The panel is of the view that a holistic review of the entire Nigerian security architecture, which is long overdue, should now be undertaken.
“Therefore, we recommend that government set up a high-level panel composed of eminent, knowledgeable and experienced persons of high integrity and objectivity to undertake an in-depth holistic review of the Nigerian security and intelligence architecture."
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Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that just two months after President Muhammadu Buhari sacked Ambassador Ayodele Oke as director general of the National Intelligence Agency, a fresh scandal hit the national spy agency.
About $44 million in cash which was kept in the spy agency’s vaults in Abuja was reportedly removed to an unknown destination, few hours before the agency’s new DG resumed.
The missing cash was part of the unexplained cash recently traced to the agency, prompting Oke’s sack.
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Source: Legit.ng
