Insecurity: House Seeks More Funds For North-East

BEVERLY HILLS, CA, March 19, (THEWILL) - The House of Representatives Wednesday passed a resolution calling on the Federal Government to increase its allocation of N2 billion to the Northeast states to address the menace of Boko Haram.

The House therefore mandated its Committee on Appropriation to find ways of increasing the allocation in the 2014 budget's Sinking Fund for Infrastructural Development, which is under the Capital supplementation head.

This decision followed the adoption of a motion of urgent national importance brought by Hon.

Abdurrahman Terab (APC, Borno).
Terab had in the motion argued that the N2 billion contribution by the Federal Government for the rebuilding process could not be adequate to address the huge economic challenges of the region.

According to him, funds "provided for future purposes under the capital Supplementation Head of the 2014 budget do not compare in priority when the country is losing parts of its territory to unimaginable magnitude of destruction.

"If the effort for reconstruction is not taken seriously despite the quantum of destruction, public confidence will continue to dwindle, while also vindicating the sympathisers of the insurgents that the country does not care about its masses at all," he said.

However, Deputy Leader of the House, Hon.
Leo Ogor (PDP, Delta), opposed the motion cautioning that increasing the allocation to N12 billion would make other members start the demand for increment in allocations to their constituencies.

He was however overruled by the Speaker, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, who mandated the Appropriation Committee to look inward and find ways of increasing the amount, without having to take N10 billion from the Sinking Fund in the budget.

The speaker noted that since the House agreed on the review of the allocation, there should be no specific amount the monies would be increased to, even as he tasked the committee to find avenue of increasing the amount.

SAINT MUGAGA, ABUJA