A National Conference delegate, Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, has asked the National Assembly to reject the request made by President Goodluck Jonathan, asking for the Assembly’s approval for a $1bn loan to aid the war against the Islamic sects, Boko Haram.

Falana said the President must explain what he had been doing with the budgets made for defence in the past few years.

He said, “The request made by President Jonathan for approval of the Senate for a loan of $1 bn to fight the menace of the Boko Haram sect should be rejected in its entirety. Between 2010 and 2013 over N3tn was budgeted for defence.

“Under the Appropriation Bill signed into law on May 23 this year, 20 per cent of the entire federal budget i.e. the sum of N968.127bn out of N4.962tn was earmarked for defence. The Senate should find out what happened to the defence budget in the middle of the year to warrant a supplementary budget of N160bn.”

Similarly, another Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Yusuf Alli, said the request by the President had created a state of uncertainty as he had yet to be fully aware of all the parameters for the request.

He urged the National Assembly to be sure there was a need for it before approving it.

He said, “I am sure they should be sure that there is a need for it before they will approve it. One does not possess all the parameters for asking for the loan, so one is a bit in a quandary. One does not have all the factors that have been considered.

“But one wants to believe that the National Assembly will be given all the facts to do the correct thing.”

A security consultant, Ben Okezia, faulted the request by Jonathan, saying the Army already had a budget which was being used to fund its counter-terrorism campaign in the North-East.

According to him, the government should not attempt to hoodwink Nigerians. He said the number of Boko Haram insurgents were not up to 2000 and that not all of them were armed.

He therefore cautioned the National Assembly against approving the loan request, saying the government was not sending everyone in the Army to fight against Boko Haram and as such there was no need for the loan.

Okezie said, “What does he (Jonathan) want to buy with $1bn? Are they saying all the soldiers in the Army are going to fight against Boko Haram? The money is for 2015 elections.”

They know that APC will match them money for money.

But the Coordinator of National Information Centre, Mr. Mike Omeri, said the Federal Government would not spare resources to bring back the schoolgirls abducted from the Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, on April 14.

Omeri was responding to a question from a journalist on whether the resources of the Federal Government had depleted in the fight against terrorism such that it now needed to borrow $1bn to prosecute the war.

The NUC coordinator said, “Even the United States goes for this kind of facility. For any country involved in such military expedition, not just the Boko Haram issue, but engaged in a number of military exercises, its stock will deplete. Every country must restock to reinforce its capability.

“That is not to say that the resource of Nigeria has finished and therefore we needed to go for loan. It is not cash that will be given to Nigeria. It is a long term facility.

“It is country-to-country kind of process because what the government is looking for is the approval of the National Assembly so that the President can negotiate for arms to consolidate, to reinforce the stock the armed forces have and to guarantee that we will win the war against insurgency and we have an effective and capable assets to prosecute any unforeseen issue. This happens to all countries. It is not exclusive to Nigeria.”

He added, “Once the country is engaged in any kind of activity of this nature, it sure will lead to depletion of resources. So, I don’t think the loan is because the resources are depleted. For the amount so far spent, I am not in a position to say so.

“We are still prosecuting the war. So, it will be preposterous to begin to calculate cost. Don’t forget, our citizens have been abducted. And so whatever we need to do that we must do to get our citizens back, we will do it. The country will do it.”

Jonathan had on Wednesday forwarded a letter to the National Assembly, asking the lawmakers to urgently approve a $1bn external loan for the Federal Government to confront the Boko Haram insurgency.

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I agree with him

As For me I would say Nigerians must at this point decide their own fate and put an end to this pathetic and incompetent administration. How can this president be asking Nigerians for any amount when there is no proof that all the almost N1 trillion naira spent on defense has yield anything positive but hopeless military, Boko Haram, kidnappers, and treasury looters along with incompetent generals. This man should be forced out of office by all means before the Boko Haram, kidnappers, and armed robbers destroy our country. How can you be seeking $1 billion to fight Boko Haram when you cannot show any progress with
all the monies committed already to fight the war. Any competent Commander-in-Chief could have destroyed Boko Haram and their political allies within 18 months. If you have a capable army and competent advisers, you can destroy Boko Haram within a month. You know where they are along with their primitive war tactics. Put N50 to N100 million bounties on the head of each of the Boko Haram leaders dead or alive. I can assure you, people will turn them and their sympathizers in and Nigeria will be peaceful again. We will do whatever is necessary to end this pathetic mess

Front Page Things Ohh

Can GEJ please set up a committee to investigate where the more than #3trn budgeted for Defence has been channeled to?

Femi Falana should know better that the legislature has since become an extension of the executive sharing in the loot.

One life is worth more than $1bn

pls senate should give gej approval

so that BH can be finally eliminated

if u support say LIKE

O boi.. A billion dols? If i get that, i wont havta work for the rest of me life! Will stack'em up in world bank and spend the interest per mnth.
On a serious note, one cant help but wonder at the financial recklessness of our country. Corruption is killin us faster than a disease outbreak would. Seems like our gov has failed us in all aspect...! .....Like Evil thrives in this paart of the Land. Only God can set things right. I just hate Naija politics..

He won loot money way he go spend after 2015,he don no say we pple don ready 2 vote him out....in yoruba voice (ko le riii) he no fit see

falana is just lyk a rantin mad dog.. if jona wants $1bn to fight terrorism he will get it and there is ntin falana cn do abt it. he is just a tool for apc nowadays

Ali Baba (GEJ) and his forty thieves have stolen the over N3 trillion budgeted for security between 2010 and 2013 and they are now telling us a mere $1 billion will deliver results when around $18 billion sunk into defence failed to achieve zilch towards making Nigeria safer? If anything, Nigeria might as well be funding the killers of her people (Boko Haram) with how terrorism is worsening illogically when it should be abating with how virtually a fortune has been devoted to fighting insecurity.

Not many nations of the world reward failure as Nigeria does and it is even shocking GEJ has the effrontery to ask for more funds when, in an unbelievable display of epic failure, trillions have disappeared with the Country even far more unsafe than it was previously !!! How did Nigeria end up with this brazenly desperate President? Like someone opined in the article, this ludicrous demand is nothing but a shameless demand for the 'war chest' needed for the 2015 election which is only months away and ostensibly a 'do or die' affair for our President.

“Under the Appropriation Bill
signed into law on May 23 this
year, 20 per cent of the entire
federal budget i.e. the sum of
N968.127bn out of N4.962tn
was earmarked for defence.
The Senate should find out
what happened to the defence
budget in the middle of the
year to warrant a
supplementary budget of
N160bn.”

PDP is boko haram, embezzling the allocation earmarked for defence.

If the boko haram menace ends, there won't be security allocation to be embezzled.

Femi falana is an Apc puppet. he is working according to his pay masters dictations.
mr falana you know that 20 OF you can't stop that security fund so shut the eff up

VICTORCIZA: Femi falana is an Apc puppet. he is working according to his pay masters dictations.
mr falana you know that 20 OF you can't stop that security fund so shut the eff up

kendrick93: falana is just lyk a rantin mad dog.. if jona wants $1bn to fight terrorism he will get it and there is ntin falana cn do abt it. he is just a tool for apc nowadays

You are a big f00l!
No truth can be said without being attached to APC? Can you point out one thing Felana said that is wrong? Did you read it at all? PDP thieves paid you guys to come on Nairaland and make senseless comments.

Anyway am not surprised. Like father like son. Hence your pay master is senseless and ya'll are senseless too.

Those days Nairaland used to be issue based forum, since pdp started paying psychiatrist patient to come post senseless comment Nairaland is no longer a place to learn

If you are paid by pdp it's you am talking to and I aint scared of you Mother f*ckers.

VICTORCIZA: Femi falana is an Apc puppet. he is working according to his pay masters dictations.
mr falana you know that 20 OF you can't stop that security fund so shut the eff up

You are a dog , do u realise nobody takes you serious

I disagree with Mr. Femi Falana on this one, because as it appears, Nigeria as a nation is in the middle of a war and wars are prosecuted with huge financial, material and human demands on the prosecutors.
His grouse, i believe, is on the N970billion spent last year on defence, which he believes is huge enough to accomodate whatever needs to be done on the war, but Mr. Falana should remember the lamentation of the army finance director that the army needs more money to sucessfully fight this insurgency and i believe we should oblige them. And every war depletes the millitary armoury and in Nigeria`s case, we are not just replenishing, we are also upgraging and modernising our millitary armoury and extra money is required for this.
If we need a well equipped and motivated army for finally crush boko haram, then Mr. Falana is wrong on this one.

What Mr Falana is saying is that the money that have been spent so far should be accounted for so we are sure that the monies spent are spent accordingly. He is saying that if you must borrow then you must prove to us that it won't be squandered.

What has Jonathan done with over 3 trillion naira that will warrant him to request for more half way?

luvinhubby:
His grouse, i believe, is on the N970billion spent last year on defence,

Not last year, the budget was approved less than two months ago. How do you spend N970billion in less than four months?

SUMMARY OF FEMI FALANA'S SPEECH :



FOOLISH PRESIDENT EVER RULETH

NIGERIANS DON'T THINK BEFORE COMMENTING
[b][/b]
He urged the National Assembly to be sure there was a need for it before approving it.
WHATS THIS WHY,WHY DID HE HAVE TO MAKE THIS SENTENCE OR STATEMENT ?of what use ?if you want to criticise do it with fact and the technicalities involved and be blunt about it,it would show you know what you are saying not all this kind of confusing half baked comments,this is how some people create unnecessary tension in the country ,delusion i must say,Nigeria has one of the lowest budget for defence in the whole world go and check and get your facts right.

Una dey here dey comment soldiers wen dey bush dey fight war them say them need money una dey ask wetin dem wan use am do, why una no join army? go check conscription in egypt and so other countries like israel Brazil and even algeria sef, its a must from 18 to 30 una mates dey army una dey here dey argue money to defend una country i pity una lazy nigerias they want the good things of life and never want to pay for it or realize it comes with a price Falana is delusional

Zikkyy:

Not last year, the budget was approved less than two months ago. How do you spend N970billion in less than four months?

Are you sure.

EasternLeopard:
Are you sure.

See the bit highlighted in red below....

AdelokikiMr:
He said, “The request made by President Jonathan for approval of the Senate for a loan of $1 bn to fight the menace of the Boko Haram sect should be rejected in its entirety. Between 2010 and 2013 over N3tn was budgeted for defence.

“Under the Appropriation Bill signed into law on May 23 this year, 20 per cent of the entire federal budget i.e. the sum of N968.127bn out of N4.962tn was earmarked for defence. The Senate should find out what happened to the defence budget in the middle of the year to warrant a supplementary budget of N160bn.”

blacksta:

You are a dog , do u realise nobody takes you serious

nobody take me serious yet you quoted me
your are just a little kid! exchanging words with you is a let down on my prestige!!!
idikwanu aro onee!!!

jking001:
Nigeria has one of the lowest budget for defence in the whole world go and check and get your facts right.

Its not bout the size of the budget, Nigerians want to be sure the money went to defence. that's all.

This fisherman won't rest until he bankrupts Nigeria. What's to show for the trillions of Naira defence budgets so far?

GEJ had better justify this spending spree abeg. Otherwise he will have to stuff this plan and cut some overheads big time to fund the campaign against BH

falana lacks information do you know how much it cost to buy a military hardware , the medical cost of wounded army personel. Falana this is war not legal matters

eejo: falana lacks information do you know how much it cost to buy a military hardware ,....

Since you are better informed, maybe you can list the military hardware purchased in the last four months valued at about N970billion.

Zikkyy:

Not last year, the budget was approved less than two months ago. How do you spend N970billion in less than four months?

Beats me walahi. Corruption is so blatant these days and without shame. These pple have taken Nigerians for granted.

Zikkyy:

See the bit highlighted in red below....

Ok thanks


But he should still be given but made to show the weapons acquire and the cost of each.

Zikkyy:

Since you are better informed, maybe you can list the military hardware purchased in the last four months valued at about N970billion.

The army only had 30percent of that money

Gbawe: Ali Baba (GEJ) and his forty thieves have stolen the over N3 trillion budgeted for security between 2010 and 2013 and they are now telling us a mere $1 billion will deliver results when around $18 billion sunk into defence failed to achieve zilch towards making Nigeria safer? If anything, Nigeria might as well be funding the killers of her people (Boko Haram) with how terrorism is worsening illogically when it should be abating with how virtually a fortune has been devoted to fighting insecurity.
Not many nations of the world reward failure as Nigeria does and it is even shocking GEJ has the effrontery to ask for more funds when, in an unbelievable display of epic failure, trillions have disappeared with the Country even far more unsafe than it was previously !!! How did Nigeria end up with this brazenly desperate President? Like someone opined in the article, this ludicrous demand is nothing but a shameless demand for the 'war chest' needed for the 2015 election which is only months away and ostensibly a 'do or die' affair for our President.

Shie! Why do u people have to hit so hard? please help #restoregejdignity