#TrackNigeria: The House of Representatives Committee on Army says it will set up a sub-Committee that will interact with the Senate to look into the 2019 budget.
This is to ensure that both chambers are able to present a harmonised version of the budget.
Chairman of the Committee, Rimande Shawulu, who presided over the Army Budget defence on Wednesday in Abuja, said any report jointly submitted would not face much crisis when it got to the Appropriation Committees.
While presenting the 2019 Budget proposal, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.Gen Tukur Buratai, said the Nigerian Army was requesting the sum of N472.8 billion.
Buratai said the Nigerian Army had for years grappled with fund insufficiency, but remained resilient and dedicated to the discharge of its constitutional responsibilities.
He said the Nigerian Army was able to cope with the financial concerns due to the relative peace and peaceful environment across the country.
He said that this was prior to the emergence of insecurity and other hostile activities of violent non-state actors.
The chief of army staff said due to the spread of violence across the country, the Nigerian Army had expanded from 5 Divisions to 8 Divisions.
He further said that Nigerian Army was currently engaged in war against insurgency in the North-East and other criminal elements in the North-West as well as in the North-Central.
Buratai, while giving the breakdown of Army’s achievements in the 2018 budget, said, as part of efforts to rid the country of terrorist activities, the Nigerian Army had established the Nigerian Army Special Forces Command.
He said it had also established the Nigerian Army Cyber Warfare, Land Forces Simulation Center and the Nigerian Army Aviation, among others.
He, however, stressed that adequate budgetary allocation was needed to adequately combat Boko Haram insurgency and other terrorist activities in the country.
Buratai appealed to the Committee to approve the proposed sum of N350.5 billion for the Nigerian Army Personnel Emoluments in the 2019 Budget.
He equally appealed for the approval of N43.6 billion as the 2019 Nigerian Army overhead budget, while the sum of N78.5 billion should be approved for its 2019 Capital Budget.
He urged the Committee to to prevail on the Ministry of Budget and National Planning to exempt the Nigerian Army from the existing budget envelope system in view of the ongoing structural changes it was undergoing.
The Army Chief said the envelope system was not conducive for the army due to the volatile security environment and massive engagement of troops in virtually all the states of the federation.
He also reiterated that the Nigerian Army was committed to securing the territorial integrity of the country from any form of aggression.
He said that the ongoing clearance operation would rid the country of the remnants of Boko Haram and other terrorist groups across the country.
Buratai said that was why the Nigerian Army launched the operation Harbin Kunama 3 in Zamfara.
He said timely implementation of the 2019 Budget would enhance the fullfilment of the constitutional roles of the Nigerian Army. (NAN)
