The House of Representatives yesterday resolved to investigate the utilisation of $1 billion approved for the federal government to fight insurgency in the North-East region of the country by service chiefs.
The resolution followed the adoption of motions moved by Mohammed Sani Abdu, Isaac Gyang and Hassan Saleh during a debate on the recent Boko Haram attack, which killed dozens of Nigerian soldiers in Metele, Borno State.
The investigation, which is to be conducted by a yet to be constituted ad hoc committee, will look into possible operational lapses responsible for the large number of casualties.
The lawmakers also urged the military high command to release the names of the slain soldiers after consultation with their families.
Abdu particularly sought proof that the $1 billion recently appropriated by the National Assembly to prosecute the insurgency was spent judiciously.
Aliyu Magaji called for the sacking of the service chiefs. “They have failed. How long would they be there, attending the funeral services of our soldiers? President Buhari should replace them immediately before it is too late,” he said.
For Abdulsamad Dasuki who chairs the committee on navy, the military is technologically backward.
He claimed it has about 200,000 soldiers which, according to him, are not enough to protect the millions of Nigerians and a border stretching from the Chad Basin to the Atlantic.
While supporting the motion, Hon. Aminu Shehu Shagari (PDP, Sokoto), said the primary responsibility of any government is security of lives of its citizens.
Shagari decried the security situation in most northern states and submitted that the federal government under President Buhari had failed to secure the citizens, adding that he expected nothing less than total decimation of the insurgents.
In his contribution, Hon. Gabriel Onyewife (APGA, Anambra) observed that there would be no free and fair election in Nigeria in next year’s general elections if the insurgents are still controlling some parts of the country and are hacking down soldiers and civil populace in such huge numbers.
Other lawmakers who spoke in favour of the motion include: Hon. Nnenna Elendu-Ukeje (PDP, Abia), Hon. Mohammed Sani Abdu (APC, Bauchi), Hon. E.J. Agbonayinma (APC, Edo), Hon. Beni Lar (PDP, Plateau) and Hon. Sani Jaji (APC, Zamfara).
When the speaker, Mr. Dogara who presided over the delibration put the motion to a voice vote, it was overwhelmingly adopted.
Dogara, who expressed worry about the death of the soldiers noted that something must be amiss as smaller countries like Chad, Cameroon and Niger secure their borders effectively.
He wondered whether the multinational joint task force comprising Chad, Niger, Cameroon and Benin Republic is still in place to contain Boko Haram activities in the Lake Chad region.
