Senate President Godswill Akpabio has assured Nigerians that the National Assembly will intensify legislative support for President Bola Tinubu in tackling insecurity and deepening economic reforms aimed at stabilising the country.
Akpabio spoke on Thursday after leading principal officers of the Senate on a traditional Eid-el-Kabir homage to Tinubu at the president’s Lagos residence.
The Senate President said lawmakers were prepared to work closely with the executive arm to strengthen security architecture across the country, particularly through ongoing discussions around state policing and improved police funding.
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“He can’t do it alone. The National Assembly will assist him to ensure that we improve in the area of security. But it has actually improved,” Akpabio said.
He argued that Nigeria’s security situation had changed significantly compared to previous years marked by insurgent territorial control and frequent bomb attacks.
“There is no part of Nigeria today where the flag of any insurgents, whether Boko Haram, is being hoisted. All those organised bomb blasts everywhere have been brought to an end,” he stated.
Despite the improvements, Akpabio acknowledged growing concerns over attacks on schools, churches, mosques and rural communities, insisting that more coordinated measures were required.
According to him, lawmakers are currently considering frameworks that would allow states to play more active roles in internal security operations through a regulated state police structure.
“We believe that working with him, the National Assembly can come up with a solution and a framework that will enable the states to also partake in securing lives and property, and that is in the area of state police,” he said.
Akpabio disclosed that the proposed arrangement would include a national regulatory mechanism to prevent abuse by state authorities.
“We are looking at ways of creating a positive and not a negative state police, something that can have a national state police commission that will regulate conduct, promotion and training,” he added.
On the economy, Akpabio praised Tinubu’s administration for implementing reforms he said had repositioned Nigeria for long-term growth and stability.
“We came to appreciate Mr President for his reforms, which have done a lot to reposition Nigeria on the trajectory of growth,” he said.
He cited the removal of fuel subsidy, exchange rate unification and tax reforms as difficult but necessary decisions inherited from years of structural economic challenges.
The Senate President also highlighted major infrastructure projects including the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and the Lagos-Badagry-Sokoto road corridor as transformative investments capable of boosting agriculture, trade and national connectivity.
Akpabio further revealed that the National Assembly was considering increasing statutory allocations to the Nigeria Police Trust Fund to improve police equipment and infrastructure nationwide.
He said the Senate delegation also used the Sallah visit to pray for peace in Nigeria and the safe release of citizens still in captivity.
