Finance Ministry to interface with Army on improved funding

The Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning is to interface with the Nigerian Army on improved funding for security operations in the country.

Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed said this during an interactive meeting in Abuja with Senate Committee on Army and representatives of Chief of Defence Staff and that of Chief of Army Staff.

According to her, the ministry and indeed the President prioritises funding for the Armed of Forces of Nigeria.

“I have met with the chief of defence staff and all the service chiefs and I know that their need is very large.

“So We need to sit together and look at how we can rearrange the cost of governance so that we can shift emphasis to the funding.

“We are glad that the process is happening. Perhaps this will be the pathway toward looking at how we can fund the armed forces operations.

“We also look forward to funding of the army where 100 per cent of its requirements will be achieved,” she said.

Ahmed added: “May be the thing to do in the meantime, is to take stock of the real needs of the Nigerian army.

“You have an opportunity in the supplementary budget that is coming in so that we can address some of that.”

Earlier, Chairman, Senate Committee on Army, Sen. Ali Ndume said the meeting was geared toward addressing Nigeria’s security challenges.

“The reason is because of the serious security challenges we are facing in the country that is spreading like cancer.

“We are here to interact and find out what the problem is and what the immediate solutions are,” he said.

Ndume, however, noted that out of a National Budget of N13 trillion, only N30 billion was allocated to the army.