Following several criticisms put up by Nigerians against the N37billion vote for the renovation of the National Assembly in the 2020 budget, the federal government may have slashed the request to N9.2billion.
The controversial N37 billion is different from the N128 billion originally allocated for the federal legislature in the appropriation bill.
Addressing journalists Sunday in Abuja ahead of the first anniversary of the Ninth Senate scheduled for Thursday, Senate President Ahmad Lawan said the new allocation-N9.2billion- had been accommodated in the revised appropriation bill for the lawmakers’ approval.
He said: ”The renovation was misunderstood but sometimes you allow criticisms so that you give the people the feeling that this is democracy and people criticized it, we took it very calmly.
“It’s not a National Assembly building, it’s an FCDA building. We need to ensure that something as important as an arm of government, the people’s complex, is not allowed to deteriorate. N37 billion was estimated by the FCDA to be expended to rehabilitate the National Assembly complex because they have the technical capacity and this is their building just like the Presidential Villa. They maintain it. So it’s not our own.”
Meanwhile, while speaking on security the Senate president said the worsening state of insecurity in Nigeria arose from international politics stalling arm procurement.
He said efforts to buy equipment for Nigerian armed forces were usually frustrated by international politics.
Lawan said the requests were only taking longer than expected unlike when other countries made similar requests from some foreign governments.
“To some extent, we are suffering from international politics, I know that in our efforts to try to buy spare parts for combat jets from some foreign countries, it takes six to nine months while another country will write to the same government and maybe get it in one or two months.
“So, something is not right, but that’s to say that it’s now one of our challenges that we will continue to engage with countries that we feel don’t understand what we are doing here,” he said.
The lawmaker said more resources were needed for virtually all the security outfits for effective and efficient fight against insurgency, armed banditry and crimes generally.
“For security, we need more resources. By resources, I don’t mean just money, we need more personnel for the armed forces, we need more personnel for the police, Nigerian immigration service and almost all the agencies and paramilitary as well.
“And then, of course the resources in terms of equipment, machinery and then training. But what we experience today is we don’t have sufficient personnel, the resources available to the security office are inadequate. Government is doing a lot to get more resources in terms of equipment and machinery,” Lawan said.