Tukur Buratai, Chief of Army Staff has appealed to the House of Representatives to prevail on the Ministry of Budget and National Planning to exempt the Nigerian Army from the existing budget ceiling or envelope allocation system in view of the on-going structural changes, volatile security environment and massive engagement of troops in virtually all the 36 states of the Federation.
Buratai said this was because the Nigerian Army was allocated the total sum of N232.4 billion as against the sum of N472.8 billion requested from the National Planning and Budget Ministry in the 2019 budget.
He made this known Wednesday while defending the 2019 budgetary proposal before the House of Representatives Committee on Army at the National Assembly Complex, Abuja.
Buratai who decried poor budgetary allocations to the Army faulted the notions held in certain quarters that there were rivalries between the Army and the Air force in the counterinsurgency war, hinting that, plans were at advanced stage to set up an air wing of the Nigeria Army as part of ongoing effort to keep the peace the country.
The Army Chief disclosed that in spite inadequate budget allocation and the subsisting envelope budget system, the Nigerian Army has expanded from 5 Divisions to 8 Divisions as well as the establishment of the Nigerian Army Special Forces Command, Nigerian Army Cyber Warfare Command, Special Intelligence Command, Land Forces Simulation Centre and Nigerian Army Aviation since 2015 due to the war against Boko Haram Terrorists and internal security operations in the country.
For the 2019 budget, Buratai explained that the sum of N350.5 billion is to be expended on Nigerian Army Personnel emolument, the sum of N43.6 billion for Army Overhead Budget, and N78.5 billion for Nigerian Army 2019 Capital Budget.
He assured that the Army would continue to collaborate with other security agencies to tackle the problem of kidnapping and violent crimes in the country.
Buratai who was accompanied by the top echelon of the Army however, noted that a lot depends on Nigerians in various communities across the country to expose perpetrators of the dastard act who he said are not “spirits but human beings”.
James Kwen, Abuja
