The House of Representatives Monday expressed its willingness to assist the Nigerian Army by appropriating adequate funds in the 2025 budget to enable them tackle insecurity challenges affecting the country.
Chairman of the committee, Rep. Aminu Balele (APC, Katsina) made the promise at the 2025 budget defence organised by the committee in Abuja.
Speaking to journalists after emerging from a closed door session with the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Olufemi Oluyede, Balele said the committee was satisfied with the army’s 2024 budget performance.
He said “We are committed to providing unwavering support, fostering cooperation, and maintaining solidarity with our military counterparts.
“Rest assured, this committee’s determination to champion the welfare of our troops, ensure adequate power provisions, and promote capacity building at all levels remains steadfast”.
The chairman explained that “Today, we have achieved a lot in the sense that we have analysed and scrutinised the 2024 budgets and more importantly before we move into 2025 we ask so many fundamental questions, particularly what is happening in the country and way forward and you know this is a security committee.
“They give us some security inputs whereby we support, we have to support them to see that in the next in a short time they have addressed the question of this insecurity largely in all over the country”, he stated.
According to him, the committee was satisfied with the army’s performance of the 2024 budget, especially the level of implementation.
He said, “In terms of implementation it was excellent. They have achieved over 99 per cent in terms of implementation and more to it we have sent our colleagues and we have gone all around the country during the oversight function.
“We have understood largely whatever they brought is perfect and it is okay. It’s just a question of you know there is so much pressure from Nigerians. They need quick results of this question of insecurity, which is affecting our nation.
“We have done our best from the National Assembly, particularly the House of Representatives and we have succeeded in addressing the question of even though you know there is inflation in terms of exchange rate and others.
“We have seen how we have succeeded in improving their capital and largely their overheads and there is no regular allowance because you will find a member and soldier you know collecting very little amount of money in terms of his allowance. So, we compare, we sit down and we resolve those issues and it’s a gradual process”.
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