Buhari Vanguard asks President Jonathan to account for security allocations in his Administration - by: Jasper Iyke Azuatalam - July 21, 2014 There is urgent need for President Goodluck Jonathan and his government to give detailed account of security allocations over these years that he has piloted and supervised the affairs of Nigeria as the President and Commander in Chief of the Armed forces. Nigerians deserve to know how the huge amount of money allocated for defense and security have been spent under his government and the best time to do so is now The rampaging insurgence, revelations by the Minister of state for defense and the recent request by President Jonathan for a one Billion Dollar loan demand that we make an inquiry into the monies allocated to security in the National budget starting from, at least, 2012. A few days ago, Minister of State for Defense, Musiliu Obanikoro, revealed that the government has not made major acquisitions of equipment, ammunition and platforms for the country’s Armed Forces in the past 25 years. Such revelation from a serving Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is coming after the government allocated and spent N921.21 billion ($5.9478 billion) in 2012 from the 2012 national budget. In 2013, the Government allocated and spent about N950 billion (approximately $6 Billion) for national security purposes. This comprises N320 billion for the police, and N364 billion for the Armed Forces, N115 billion for the Office of the NSA, and N154 billion for the Ministry of the Interior. A breakdown of the 2014 budget also shows that the President Jonathans government allocated N968.127 billion (approximately $6 Billion) for Defense and Security representing about 20% of the entire national budget. It is unbelievable that this government is telling Nigerians that no arms and ammunition have been acquired or provided for the Military with these huge allocations for security and defense. We are left to wonder what this huge amount of money has been used for, over these years. To add to it, President Goodluck Jonathan recently wrote to the National Assembly requesting the approval of a one Billion Dollar foreign loan. This is coming at a time when there are several allegations of missing funds amounting to several billions of dollars ranging from crude oil theft, NNPC unremitted funds, pension funds, and SURE-P funds among others. We believe that it is totally unreasonable and irresponsible for a nation that cannot account for trillions of naira under her control to contemplate on borrowing an amount of money that looks so small compared to what it has lost through mismanagement, misappropriation and theft, within a short period For the first time, we heard the Nigerian Military admit that its men ran away from the battle field when confronted by Boko Harram, even when the Military and government denied such claim from a serving governor in one of the Boko Harram tormented states. This was quickly followed by the revelation by the Minister of state for defense, Musili Obanikoro that Nigeria has not procured any major arms and ammunition for the military in 25 years. We hope these recent claims and revelations are not meant to justify the request for the one billion dollar foreign loan and push the National Assembly into granting the request. It is time for the National Assembly to call for an inquiry into the huge security allocations over the years or for Mr President to willingly give a detailed account of how his government spent trillions of naira allocated to security over these years. Com Jasper Azuatalam Chairman, Buhari vanguard
Posted on: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 16:27:11 +0000
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