April 22, 2021

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Nigerian Army, Senator Ali Ndume has asked the Federal Government to fund the Army before setting a timeline to tackle insurgency.

He said the Federal Government can only set a timeline for the Nigerian Army to prosecute the fight against insurgency when adequate funding is made available to them.

“We are calling on the Government to provide the necessary equipment”.

Senator Ndume stated this on Wednesday shortly after a closed-door meeting with the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Attahiru Ibrahim at the Army headquarters Abuja.

He said the military must be given money, more personnel, and equipment to carry out their assignment.

According to him, the Army has the daunting task of mitigating the various security challenges that in the country, and the National Assembly is very important in terms of giving the necessary legislative support to the Nigerian army.

“We have been given the assurance that they (army) will do their best. They need money, personnel and equipment to carry out their duties.”

Speaking on the utilization of funds so far given to the military and other procurement issues, Ndume said that can only be talked about when the army is adjudged not to have performed to expectation, and what matters now is tackling the various security challenges in almost all the regions of the country.

He assured that the National Assembly will always give necessary support to the Nigerian Army when it comes to the issue of budget and supplementary budgets submitted before the lawmakers.