CONTROVERSY TRAILS MILITARY SPENDING

The funding of the military, especially the ongoing counter-insurgency operation, is generating heated controversy especially over who handles the money allocated to the military as both the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) have denied handling the money.

While the MOD has washed its hands off the expenditure of the military, the ONSA, too, has done the same but the some officials of the former have faulted the ONSA's claim.

A critical section of the populace has been asking questions about the funding of the ongoing counter-insurgency operation which involves the military and all the security agencies such as the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and the Department of the State Security Services (DSS).

The controversy came to the open when our sister publication, LEADERSHIP Weekend, in a story published in its last edition quoted a ministry source alleging that the Ministry of Defence was not involved in the funding of the operation. The story further disclosed that the Presidency dealt directly with service chiefs.

Checks reveal that Nigeria is not among the leading countries in Defence budgeting. Egypt spends $4billion (35 million manpower), Ethiopia $300 (34 million manpower), South Africa $5million (14 million manpower), Nigeria $2.2billion (73 million manpower), Algeria $8billion (20 million manpower), Kenya $5billion (20 million manpower) and Libya $880 million (3 million manpower).

Another MOD official, who corroborated the story, explained that the funding of the counter insurgency operation is being handled by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA). According to him, the MOD's involvement in the funding of the military is on paper, not real.

"It is on paper that the military receives its fund through the MOD; that may have to do with the overheads but when you are talking of the real funding of the ongoing counter-insurgency operation, the vote is allocated to the Office of the National Security Adviser. This is why the ministry is not aware of the purchase of any ammunition or any other thing that is needed for the operation. Some soldiers, SSS and policemen and officers have just left the country and going for the counter-insurgency training in a country near Germany. The MOD is not aware of it. Whatever they need is channelled to the NSA and all we are told is that some officers are travelling to someplace.

"You go and see what the NSA's vote or allocation is and what it contains in the budget. You will see that the Police, the Immigration, Civil Defence Corps, NIA, DIA, DSS is on the list; this should not be so. The NSA should be shielded and protected in all of these. In the area of purchasing, who is in charge of the due process, verification, qualities, standardisation, etc? By implication, ministries of Interior, Defence, and the Police Affairs are not directly involved in their capital expenditure, and the question is, who accounts for their purchases? What we are saying is that, each of these ministries – not only the MOD, should be deeply involved in all their transactions for accountability."

Reacting to a story published by TELL magazine, the ONSA, in a statement issued and signed by the Special Adviser to the NSA on Media and Publicity, Mr Karounwi Adekunle, denied ever being involved in the funding of the military as reported.

He said: "Our attention has been drawn to the false and misleading story published in TELL magazine of June 2, 2014, alleging that "for some years now, defence funds have been under the management of the National Security Adviser instead of the Ministry of Defence where the funds were traditionally administered".

"We state, clearly and unambiguously, that ONSA is separate from MOD in all budgetary affairs. The ONSA defends its budgets before the National Assembly and MOD does for its own. All budgetary provisions are clearly spelt out and within the public domain. ONSA has no responsibility for military personnel's salaries and allowances, capital projects or otherwise. All are within the domain of MOD. So, how can the ONSA be accused of managing defence funds?"We request that, for any allegation from any source about ONSA, please recourse be made to the NSA for his own side of the story before publishing. There is need for a holistic and balanced report at all times."

While some people argue that the military is being poorly funded, some disagree but argue that the money passed by the National Assembly is being diverted or withheld by the Presidency. Some even argue that military purchases some refurbished ammunition as a result of poor funding or mismanagement of the money allocated to it.

A military source claimed that most of the contractors given jobs are recommended by the National Assembly members and the officials of the Presidency.

"If they are saying we are poorly funded, they should ask the National Assembly and the Presidency those questions. How much do they allocate to us yearly, and since the National Assembly performs oversight functios over our spending, the members also have roles to play here. But if you want to hear the truth, most of our contractors are recommended by the National Assembly and the Presidency. But whatever we have will be well managed to perform our constitutional responsibilities," he source.

The leadership of the opposition has been consistently calling on the National Assembly, which performs oversight function on the military and other security agencies, to look into their books because they believe the military is failing in the prosecution of the war against terror because of poor funding or mismanagement of the fund or both.