By Abiola Olawale
The Nigerian Senate has resolved to summon security intelligence chiefs following the emergence of allegations that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is funding terrorism in Nigeria.
The resolution followed an Order of Urgent National Security through Order 41 by Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, the lawmaker representing Borno South Senatorial District of Borno State in the Senate.
Ndume, in his lead address, called on the upper legislative chamber to look into the claims made by a US congressman, Scot Perry, who revealed that the USAID has been allegedly providing funds to Boko Haram terrorists in Nigeria.
The lawmaker urged the Senate to consider the revelation as too weighty to gloss over, given the devastation that terrorists have done to the country, particularly the Boko Haram fighters, stressing that the investigation would help put paid to speculations on how the non-state actors have been surviving over the years.
Following the debate, the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, agreed that there was need to invite them in camera, and hear from them, including Heads of the National Intelligence Agency, NIA, Directorate of Intelligence Agency, DIA, Department of State Services, DSS, and the National Security Adviser, NIA.
The Senate president also stated that the explanation of the security intelligence chiefs would be heard during a close door meeting.
The New Diplomat reports that this comes after Perry, a Republican representing Pennsylvania, during the inaugural hearing of the Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency, claimed that the USAID has been providing funding to terrorist organizations across the globe, including the notorious group Boko Haram.
This allegation comes amidst broader scrutiny of USAID funding under the administration of US President Donald Trump.
Trump had shut down the operations of USAID, citing allegations of fraud and corruption. Following the USAID shutdown, Pan-Atlantic Kompass earlier reported that several initiatives and interventions funded by USAID in Nigeria and across Africa are currently being challenged.
Trump’s billionaire ally and Head of the US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), Elon Musk, also said: “It became apparent that it was not an apple with a worm in it. What we have is just a ball of worms. You’ve got to get rid of the whole thing. It’s beyond repair. We’re shutting it down.”
