Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has said that the House was backing the establishment of a support trust fund for the amended forces, due to poor funding of their capital projects through the annual budgetary allocations.
Speaking on Monday during a public hearing on a bill seeking establishment of the fund, Gbajabiamila noted that appropriation records have shown that a whopping 91 percent of current funding to the Armed Forces goes to recurrent expenditure, including overhead costs, salaries and welfare of personnel, leaving just nine percent to fund capital purchases.
The speaker further stated that the House will in the coming week put in place, a special summit on national security, to take an all-nation and all-government approach by examining extensively, non-military solutions to the issue of insecurity in Nigeria.
Represented by Majority Leader, Ado Doguwa, the speaker said the current realities prompted the lawmakers to seek a way of providing funds that will be focused on the capital needs and training of the military personnel, adding that Nigeria’s expenditure on military hardware and training in the last five years was just about 11 percent of the budget to the sector.
“The solution to our security challenges requires asymmetric actions across many policy areas. To succeed in this fight, the Armed Forces of Nigeria requires more funding for modern weapons and required trainings. Spending on military hardware must definitely increase to support the zeal and commitment already being exhibited by our soldiers. The Armed Forces Support Trust Fund (Establishment) Bill, 2021 is a time limited endeavour to upgrade the equipment infrastructure of the Armed Forces in a deliberate manner that will better position them to be more effective in securing the nation.
“The myriad of security challenges facing the country has continued to dwarf every developmental effort put in by the government. No nation develops in a state of insecurity as currently being witnessed in Nigeria. This Bill has been crafted in ways that does not impose any direct additional burden on Nigerian citizens and businesses, but creatively make funds available through deductions from statutory receipts of the federal government as well as voluntary donation,” he stated.
Chairman of the Committee on Defence, Babajimi Benson, in his welcome remarks said the need for additional sources of funding for the Armed Forces became more apparent considering the myriad of security challenges facing the country, adding that currently, the Armed Forces only receive funding mainly through the annual appropriations.
