Ebun Francis || The House of Representatives on Tuesday mandated its committee on national security and intelligence to investigate reports of $44 million allegedly missing from the vaults of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA).
A national daily last week reported that the said was removed from the vault of the agency shortly after President Buhari announced the appointment of a substantive head of the agency.
The sponsor of the motion, Rep. Douye Diri, observed that this latest report is coming too soon after over $43million of the same agency were discovered in a block of flats in Ikoyi, Lagos State.
The lawmaker said that the matter should be investigated “for urgent national interest”.
Diri said, “These issues paint a poor picture of our national security and dents the reputation of the agency in the eyes of the public.”
“We must bear in mind that the agency represents us not only in Nigeria but in the eyes of the international community.
“So we should immediately look into these matters in a bid to resolve them because if the image we present before other countries remains dented this way, then we are doomed.”
Toby Okechukwu, member representing Aninri/Agwu/Oji-Uzo constituency in Enugu state, in his contribution described the alleged disappearance as “monumental embarrassment” for the country.
The house committee on national security and intelligence was subsequently directed to probe the matter and report back in two weeks.