Finance Ministry denies withholding army budget, says N1trn has been released so far

The Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning has denied withholding funds appropriated for the Nigerian Army.

The Ministry which stated that the funds were released at the right time, said N1trn had been released for the Nigerian Army from 2019 till April 2021.

Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed made the disclosure during an interactive session with members of the Senate Committee on Army chaired by Senator Ali Ndume.

Ahmed also revealed that apart from funding the budget of the army almost 100 per cent, there had been a lot of instances where the security service went to the president, got special approvals and still got the funds.

Giving a breakdown of the money disbursed to the Nigerian army between 2019 and April 2021, the Minister said N129.69bn was for capital; N39.76bn, overhead; N681.79bn, personnel and N157.6bn, special releases.

Ahmed added;

“So perhaps what we’re providing is not enough, but the fact is we provide what’s budgeted and we provide what’s approved.”