The House Committee says the allocation to the intelligence agencies was reduced from N221.7 billion in 2022 to N195.18 billion in 2023 because of the current economic realities.
The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on National Security and Intelligence, Sha'ban Sharada, said the allocation to the intelligence agencies was reduced from N221.7 billion in 2022 to N195.18 billion in 2023 because of the current economic realities.
Mr Sharada stated this when the National Security Adviser (NSA), Babagana Monguno, appeared before the committee on Thursday to defend allocations to the office of the NSA and other intelligence agencies.
The agencies are the State Security Service (SSS), National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA).
The chairman explained that the cut was due to the economic situation of the country.
"This is as a result of economic challenges caused by global economic instability caused by the COVID-19," he explained.
Mr Sharada disclosed that the committee will scrutinise the budget, but he is not sure there is going to be any need for significant modification.
"This methodology will require an analytical presentation of the status of implementation of the previous budget to justify the sustenance of the current allocation which in reality does not require any significant modification," he said.
Mr Sharada appealed to the Budget Office to remove intelligence agencies from the envelope budget system.
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Despite the ravaging insecurity in many parts of Nigeria, Mr Monguno, who led the heads of the agencies to the budget defence, said President Muhammadu Buhari will hand over a safer Nigeria to the next president.
Mr Buhari will leave office on May 29 when he will complete his second term of four years.
The NSA said the agencies have helped immensely to fight terrorists and bandits.
He stressed that the current security challenges are different from those in the previous century, adding that it is a global phenomenon that is not peculiar to Nigeria.
"President Muhammadu Buhari has the desire to hand over to whoever is going to inherit what he is working on right now -- a safer Nigeria. It is true and I have to be very honest with you.
"The successes we have been recording so far in overcoming the security challenges, especially in the last four to five months, are basically rooted in the efforts of the Department of State Services (DSS), National Intelligence Agency, Defence Intelligence Agency. They have been able to provide timely intelligence to the operational elements. I want to commend their effort, and I also want to, by extension, commend the effort of the operational sphere," he said.
Mr Monguno also urged the lawmakers to support the government in the fight against insurgents.
The committee and the heads of the agencies subsequently moved into a closed-door session after the speeches.
