House of Reps calls for larger capital projects for the Army in 2021

William Ukpe

4 years ago

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The House of Reps Committee on the Army has called for larger capital projects allocations in the Army’s budget for 2021 – to enable the Nigerian Army purchase more weapons to deal with insecurity in the country.

This was disclosed by the Chairman House Committee on Army, Rep Abdulrazaq Namdas, on Thursday, during the Army’s 2021 budget defense at the National Assembly.

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What you should know

Nairametrics reported in August that the Nigerian Airforce had the highest Capital Expenditure Ceiling allocation among parastatals in the Ministry of Defense, as it got N31.97 billion from the ministry’s total Capital Expenditure Ceiling of N120.04 billion for the year 2021.

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The Nigerian Army came second with 23.22% at N27.87 billion, while the Navy got 16.92% of the Defence Ceiling at N12.04 billion.

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The House Committee Chairman said on Thursday that the N27 billion allocated to the Army for capital projects was too small and would strengthen the resolve of its enemies when they hear the amount allocated to the Military.

According to news sources, in yesterday’s Budget Defence, the Nigerian Army proposed a budget of N509 billion, which is higher than its N463 billion 2020 budget.

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The Committee’s Chairman argued that the rise of banditry and insurgency means the Nigerian Army has way more to deal with than even last year.

The Army, represented by Lt. Gen. Lamidi Adeosun, in the Budget defense added that capital project allocations so far have been used to upgrade infrastructure and training.