Insurgency: Army budgets N472.8bn for personnel, equipment
Henry Omunu, Abuja
The army high command on Wednesday said that it has earmarked N472.8 billion for the 2019 fiscal year as its total expenditure projections due to ongoing counter-insurgency operations in the North East geo-political zone.
Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen Tukur Buratai made this disclosure when he appeared before the House of Representatives Committee on Army to defend the 2019 budget of the army.
He told the committee that the funds budgeted would be used to prosecute the ongoing war against insurgency in the North East and tackle the criminal activities of bandits in parts the North West as well as other parts of the country
The army chief further informed the House committee that the percentage performance of the army personnel emoluments was 100 per cent as well as other components of the 2018 budget.
He however, lamented that funding has always been a major challenge of the army since its exit from the political scene in 1999 and called for appropriate funding of the army and other security forces in order to tackle insecurity in Nigeria.
Also, Lt. Gen. Buratai regretted that amongst all the nation’s security forces, only the army does not have an air wing as other security agencies in the country, saying that this abnormally is affecting the army’s operational effectiveness.
On the breakdown of the budget, he said that N350.5 billion is set aside for personnel emoluments, N43.6 billion is for overhead costs while N78.5 billion is for capital expenditure.
House members at the budget session, such as Reps.Aisha Jibril Dukku (Gombe/APC) and Ogoshi Onawo (Nassarawa/PDP), said that the army is still using unconventional ways of fighting insurgency in the country.
Particularly, Rep. Dukku pointed to the upsurge of female suicide bombers in the North East and called for more commitment form the army to stem the trend.
Chairman of the House committee, Rep. Rimande Shawulu, however, assured the army chief that as lawmakers they will do everything within their powers to ensure that the military is adequately funded by the government.
