Insecurity Scaring Away Foreign, Local Investors, Says Lawan

The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, on Friday said the alarming spate of insecurity has scared away foreign and local investors and deprived Nigeria the benefit of attracting direct investments.

Lawan made this assertion in his speech as the chairman at a National Policy Dialogue on Corruption and Insecurity in Nigeria, organised by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), in Abuja.

The Senate President, according to a statement by his Special Assistant (Press), Ezrel Tabiowo, however commended the Armed Forces for the sustained fight against terrorism, banditry and kidnapping in the last one month.

He lauded the military for flushing and neutralising insurgents and terrorists in states such as Kaduna, Niger, and Zamfara in particular.

Lawan said: “Only recently, the President gave a marching order to the Armed Forces to extinguish bandits, kidnappers and other criminal agents against the state and her citizens, by December 2022. This administration is committed to achieving this set target.

“Accordingly, the past few weeks have seen security agencies flushing out terrorists from their hideouts in Kaduna Birnin-gwari axis, Katsina, Zamfara and Sokoto.

“Similar results were recorded in Niger, where, like in Kaduna, the Nigerian Airforce neutralised many terrorists.”

He added that the National Assembly in its bid to continually support the efforts of the government to tackle insecurity in Nigeria, ensured an improvement to annual appropriation for defence and security.

He disclosed that the legislature, while looking into the possibility of unmasking the perpetrators of insecurity in Nigeria, realised the need for an anti-corruption law to stop illicit financial flows suspected to be funding routes for insecurity in Nigeria.

“The 8th Assembly passed the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) Bill, which is one of the major anti-corruption laws that saved the country from being expelled from the global body of the Egmont Group.

“In the same vein, the 9th Assembly, working closely with security and law enforcement agencies to further strengthen their capacity to withstand unscrupulous elements involved in criminal and terrorist activities against the state, passed three bills aimed at combating money laundering, terrorist financing and the proceeds of crime.

“These three bills are in tandem with this administration’s commitment to fight corruption and curb insurgency in the country”, he said.

Lawan observed that the alarming spate of insecurity scared away foreign and local investors and deprived Nigeria the benefit of attracting direct investments.

He, therefore, commended the efforts of the ICPC and its Research and Training Academy, ACAN, for convening the dialogue aimed at guiding the country’s policy direction towards addressing the security challenges.”