The Nigerian House of Representatives is seeking adequate funding for some government agencies from the amount proposed in the 2025 budget estimates.
The Deputy Spokesman of the House, Philip Agbese disclosed this on Monday.
The agencies include the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), and Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) among other agencies plausible to benefit from the 2025 budget proposal.
Agbese lauded the efforts of these government agencies in the past years, stressing that NIMC in particular has managed the national data bank amidst limited empowerment.
He said, “NIMC has become a very important agency of government in the past few years. A lot of Nigerians may not know how critical the agency is but we can’t talk about a national data bank without making empowering that commission.”
“They came up with a robust projection for 2025 but they can only deliver if they are empowered to train their staff members, and acquire the latest technological devices critical to the work they do. Without the NIMC, the war against terrorism will be difficult for the government and the security agencies.”
He added that the NYSC scheme needs to be reformed owing to its contribution to the nation’s public and private sectors, hence, the decision to demand adequate funding for the corps.
“The ideal of the NYSC must be sustained and this informed the decision to demand adequate funding of the corps. It is too early to disclose the amount we have agreed on but it is important to say that the National Assembly is not happy with the state of the NYSC.
“We have it to be better funded to meet the needs of corps members. During their service years; they gave a lot to the nation in a way that cannot be explained with ease,” he said.
While reacting to tackling security challenges, the lawmaker emphasized the importance of improving the funding of the institutions like the NDA charged with the mandate of building the capacity of security personnel to outwit terrorism.
“In all this, we also realized that the budget envelope system is not enough to meet the capital expenditure needs of most of these agencies. If you recall when the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle appeared before the House Committee on Defence to defend the ministry’s budget; one of the things he complained about was the paltry allocation of N50bn in the 2025 budget proposal. It is the same story for other agencies of government.”
Meanwhile, he further called for the commendation of foreign mission services to the nation, confirming that the house has agreed to an upward review of the budget estimates.
