President Bola Tinubu has approved the immediate preparation for a comprehensive national threat assessment and a rolling five-year strategic defence operations plan to strengthen coordination across Nigeria’s defence, intelligence and security capabilities.
Presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga, in a statement on Thursday, said Mr Tinubu gave the directive at the federal executive council meeting in Abuja on Wednesday.
Mr Onanuga noted that Mr Tinubu’s special adviser on homeland security, Adeyinka Famadewa, would coordinate and provide secretariat support for the 11-man committee constituted by the president to draft the strategic defence operations plan.
The statement noted that other members of the committee include the national security adviser Nuhu Ribadu; defence minister Christopher Musa; state minister for defence, Bello Matawalle; the chief of defence staff, Olufemi Oluyede; the chief of army staff, Waidi Shaibu; the chief of air staff, Sunday Kelvin Aneke; and the chief of naval staff, Idi Abbas.
It added that director-general of the state security service, Tosin Ajayi, and the director-general of the national intelligence agency, Muhammed Muhammed, were also members of the committee.
Noting that new framework would provide a common understanding of the threats facing the nation, the operational objectives to be achieved and the capabilities required to address them, the statement noted recent that recent security successes in Oyo State and other parts of the country demonstrated the importance of improved coordination among defence, security and intelligence agencies.
“The operation demonstrated what can be achieved when our agencies work together with a clear objective and the necessary intelligence,” it quoted Mr Tinubu as saying.
According to the president, the national threat assessment will identify the principal threats facing the country, determine their relative urgency and establish operational objectives for addressing them.
Mr Tinubu directed the committee to commence work immediately and submit the plan for his consideration and approval within 90 days.
He noted that once approved, the plan would serve as the principal framework for coordinating military and defence operations over the medium term.
“It will also also provide the basis for preparing a corresponding multi-year defence expenditure and procurement plan, ensuring that resources are directed towards agreed operational priorities and critical national security requirements,” the statement added.
