We Can’t Be Talking About How Much We Have Spent On Security When We Are Still In Trouble – Sen. Ali Ndume 

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Army, Senator Ali Ndume has made his point known on the reason Nigerians should not bother about how much the country has spent on security under this administration while the nation is still being ravaged by Insecurity.

Senator Ndume who represents Borno Central at the Red Chamber made this point while featuring on Channels TV Sunday Politics to discuss on National Security.

To say Nigeria is under seige is an understatement. Virtually every part of the country is groaning under the heavyweight of insecurity and every indication shows that Nigeria Security Agencies are overwhelmed with the security problems.

Giving suggestion on what needs to be done to nip the matter in the bud, Ndume revealed that Nigeria does not have enough number of military personnel to defeat the terrorists. He said presently, the country has less than 200,000 military personnel.

According to him, soldiers are not trained to fight the kind of Terrorists Nigerian Army are currently fighting. They are meant to defend the territorial integrity of the nation. Internal security is basically the responsibility of Nigeria police. But because the police are limited in number, under equipped, underfunded and not properly trained, the army has to step into the situation.

According to Police statistics, Nigeria has less than 400,000 police that are policing over 200 million people. In other word, one police officer is assigned to guard about 25,000 people. He noted that the only way to address the gap is to recruit more youths into military and police force and adequately equip them.

Trouble however started when the anchor, Seun Okinbaloye spoke about how much the administration of president Muhammadu Buhari has spent in the fight against insecurity in the last seven years.

According to Okinbaloye, this government has so far spent over 7 trillion naira compared to the previous government that claimed to have spent about 4 trillion naira.

Okinbaloye asked if the money claimed to have been spent by this government has not gone into individual pocket like the way it happened under president Goodluck Jonathan.

Responding to the question, Senator Ali Ndume said he doesn’t like to talk about how much has been spent on security when the country is still under siege. He said it doesn’t make any difference if we have spent all the money in circulation when there is no result.

According to him, it is after we have achieved the result by bringing down terrorists and liberate the country from insurgency that we can talk about how much has been spent so far. 

He explained that presently, the country is under siege and what is most important now is how to set it free. If there is need to spend all the money we have or even to borrow to make the country free, it is not too much.

“After we have achieved result, we can begin to ask questions on how much has been spent and how much has been embezzled,” he concluded.

Ndume stated this on Channels TV’s Sunday Politics programme.