Buratai Reveals How Poor Funding Of Army Worsens Nigeria’s Security

Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, says the worsening insecurity in Nigeria is caused by poor funding of the Nigerian Army and other security agencies.

Naija News reports that Buratai made this comment on Wednesday in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital during the 2019 budget defence engagement with the House Committee on Army, chaired by Rimande Shawulu (PDP, Taraba).

Buratai said the Army has earmarked N472.8 billion to cover its expenditure for the 2019 fiscal year.

The Army chief said a large chunk of the budget would be utilized for counter-insurgency efforts in the North East and to tackle other forms of insecurity in the country.

This online news platform reports that a sectoral breakdown of the budget showed that N350.5 billion goes into personnel emoluments; N43.6 billion takes care of overhead costs; while N78.5 billion would be used to execute capital projects for the Army in 2019.

Buratai further informed the lawmakers that the performance of Army’s 2018 budget was 100 per cent, but reiterated that funding has remained a major constraint.

His words: “Poor funding has remained a major challenge of the Nigeria Army, especially since the transition to civil rule in 1999.

“In the 2019 fiscal year, the Army has budgeted N472.8 billion, a large percentage of which would be used for counter-insurgency in the North East and to tackle other forms of insecurity in the country,” he said.

In response, the lawmakers urged the Army to embrace new methods of counter-insurgency, with emphasis on intelligence gathering.