 Good evening, I am Ifani El-Mazem. This is the news now. As the House of Representatives began its oversight on the Nigerian armed forces in the face of heightened security challenges in the country, the Nigerian army says it has recorded major successes in carving banditry and insolvency in the country. The army chief said they is doing his budget defense session with the House committee and army. Our correspondent Emmanuel Hegine completes the report. Insecurity remains a high-drill-headed challenge across states in Nigeria, but the government has continued to say it is up to the task of defending the citizenry in the face of many deaths, kidnappings and banditry. The chief of army staff was at the House of Representatives to defend the institution's 2023 budget, seizing the occasion to address various steps taken to tackle insecurity in the country so far. For the Nigerian army, it means consolidating the gains recorded in tackling insecurity in its battle sheets and the attendant challenges. It is called, it is a call not to slide, it is a call not to sleep, and it is a call to strategize and ultimately conquer the enemy. Before we proceed, let me on behalf of the committee acknowledge the vision of the current chief of army staff, which is to have a professional Nigerian army to accomplish assigned missions within a joint environment in defense of Nigeria. The vision we set us around working in full collaboration with heads of other sister security agencies, no doubt contributed immensely to the recent successes recorded by our security forces in the counterinsurgency, terrorism, operation, fighting, banditry, kidnapping and other criminal acts that threaten our collective existence as a nation. The chairman, committee on army, Honorable Abdul Rezaq Namdes, sets the tone by commanding the chief of army staff for the successes recorded so far in the fight against insurgency, banditry and kidnapping. In his response, the army chief commands the lawmakers for their support to the army but is quick to call for increased welfare packages for soldiers. These efforts require deliberate investment in personal welfare, leadership capacity building, procurement of necessary equipment, platforms and infrastructure, which are hinged on adequate funding. I recognize the need to constantly boost the morale of the fighting troops. Hence, I pay them constant operational visits to give strategic guidance. This approach has been yielding good results as observed in the unprecedented surrender of Boko Haran Therese and their families since I took over the mantle of leadership. Significantly on the human resources and lean finances available to Nigerian army. This therefore calls for a review of the current envelope budgeting system. The envelope system leads to adequate funding of Nigerian army for the performance of its constitutional duties. The committee deserves into an executive session to address all the sensitive security matters of national interest. Hello, hope you enjoyed the news. Please do subscribe to our YouTube channel and don't forget to hit the notification button so you get notified about fresh news updates.