The Nigerian military on Thursday, February 4 said that lack of funds hampered their fight against Boko Haram in 2015.
Chief of Defence Staff, General Abayomi Olonishakin spoke on behalf of his colleagues
The statement was made by the nation’s service chiefs at a
closed door meeting with the leadership of the Senate and the chairmen
of committees relating to security agencies.
The meeting was held to review the developments in the fight against insurgency in the North-east region.
In a press statement issued on Wednesday, February 3 from
the media office of the president of the Senate, Senator Bukola Saraki,
the meeting which was presided over by Saraki, discussed several issues
geared towards empowering the security agencies to win the war against
the insurgents.
The military chiefs which was led by the Chief of Defence
Staff, General Abayomi Olonishakin, briefed the senators on the various
challenges faced by the military, particularly the state of their
equipment which they said required serious upgrading and restocking.
The statement read in part: “Other issues that were
discussed include the need to continuously increase the personnel in the
three branches of the military and the hindrance posed by the
procurement process which they said was very slow.
“The military chiefs also canvassed the need for the
review of some laws governing their operations so as to make them able
to respond to emergency situations they now confront in the North-east
zones as well as conform with global best practices.
“The need for regional support for the fight against
insurgency in the North-east by the neighbouring countries, resettlement
of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) back to their traditional homes,
the issue of intelligence gathering and sharing among the various
agencies and mobilisation of the international community, particularly
through inter-parliamentary efforts in support of the fight against
terrorism in Nigeria, were also discussed.
“The senators assured the military chiefs that they
will fast track the request for the review of the relevant laws being
complained about by putting them on the Priority Bills list once they
were given adequate information on areas that need to be amended.
“They also promised to take up the issue of release of
funds raised by the military chiefs with the ministry of finance
immediately. The committees on defence, finance and appropriations have
also been mandated to ensure that the issues raised by the service
chiefs are taken care of in the budget.
“The senators noted that at this point when the nation
had recorded serious gains in the fight against insurgency, all hands
should be on deck to sustain the tempo against the violent groups.
“The meeting was attended by Saraki, his deputy,
Senator Ike Ekweremadu, Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, deputy majority whip,
Francis Alimikhena, chairman, Senate committee on Navy, Isa Hamma Misau
and his colleague in the committee on Air Force, Duro Faseyi. However,
chairman of Senate committee on defence, Senator Ahmed Lawan was
absent.
“The Chief of Defence Staff, General Olonishakin led
the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, his colleague in the
Navy, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ette Ibas and the Air Force, Air Marshal Sadiq
Abubakar to the meeting.
Naij.com recalled that the Senate on November 30, 2015,
approved a supplementary budget of N574.5 billion, for additional
recurrent (non-debt) expenditure for the 2015 fiscal year.
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