President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has mandated a sweeping overhaul of Nigeria’s national security coordination, approving the immediate development of a comprehensive National Threat Assessment and a rolling five-year Strategic Defence Operations Plan.
The directive, announced on Wednesday during the Federal Executive Council meeting at the State House, Abuja, tasks a nine-member committee with drafting the framework designed to unify the nation’s defence, intelligence, and security agencies under a coherent operational strategy.
The President’s Special Adviser on Homeland Security, Major General Adeyinka A. Famadewa, will coordinate the committee and provide secretariat support.
Other members include the National Security Adviser, Malam Nuhu Ribadu; the Minister of Defence, General Christopher Musa; the Minister of State for Defence, Alhaji Bello Muhammad Matawalle; the Chief of Defence Staff, General Olufemi Oluyede; the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Waidi Shaibu; the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sunday Kelvin Aneke; and the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Idi Abbas.
The Director-General of the Department of State Service, Tosin Ajayi, and the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, Ambassador Muhammed Muhammed, are also members of the committee.
President Tinubu emphasised that the new framework would provide a common understanding of the threats facing the nation, establish clear operational objectives, and identify the capabilities required to address them.
He noted that recent security successes—including the rescue of pupils and teachers abducted in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State—demonstrated what could be achieved when agencies collaborated effectively with clear objectives and actionable intelligence.
“The operation demonstrated what can be achieved when our agencies work together with a clear objective and the necessary intelligence,” the President said.
However, he expressed concern that operational requirements were currently often considered individually, without sufficient reference to an agreed national threat assessment or unified medium-term plan. This approach, he noted, made coordination more difficult and limited the efficient deployment of resources.
The National Threat Assessment, according to the President’s directive, will identify the principal threats facing the country, determine their relative urgency, and establish operational objectives for addressing them.
The Strategic Defence Operations Plan will translate the assessment into clear operational priorities, specifying the forces and capabilities required in each theatre, existing capability gaps, equipment and support needs, and an implementation timetable.
Under the presidential directive, the committee may consult or co-opt representatives of other ministries, departments, and agencies where their participation is required.
President Tinubu directed the committee to commence work immediately and submit the completed National Threat Assessment and Strategic Defence Operations Plan for his consideration and approval within 90 days.
Once approved, the plan will serve as the principal framework for coordinating military and defence operations over the medium term. It will 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 President further directed the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the Office of the National Security Adviser to take all necessary steps to give immediate effect to the directives.
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