Minister for Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma
Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, says there isn't any safety vote for the presidency.
He was reacting to a report by Amnesty International (AI) titled: “Camouflaged Cash: How ‘Security Votes’ Fuel Corruption in Nigeria.”
The report indicated, partially, that the presidency will not be solely appropriating, however “has increased the number of security votes tucked into the federal budget in the last two years.”
But Udoma stated it was essential to state clearly that “there is no line item as Security Vote in the State House budget,” including that “provisions for security-related matters are contained in the detailed budgets of the Ministry of Defence, Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), Department of State Security (DSS) etc.”
He added: “There are also provisions for military interventions in the North-east (insurgency) – Operation Lafiya Dole, as well as other specific operations of the Armed Forces such as Operation Python Dance, Operation Crocodile Smile and very recently, the Operation Cat Race, etc.”
The minister harassed that as a result of growing variety of inside safety points, a provision of N75 billion was made for these workout routines within the service-wide votes, not State House vote, in 2018.
“At appropriate times, the required funds are disbursed by application from the relevant agencies supervising the exercises,” the minister added.