Boko Haram: Sen. Ndume appeals for increase in budgetary allocation to North East

The former Senate Majority Leader, Ali Ndume, has appealed to the Federal Government to increase the N45 billion allocated in the 2017 budget for the reconstruction of the North-East region following the Boko Haram insurgency.
Ndume, who made the appeal while briefing newsmen on Tuesday in Maiduguri, Borno State, said the N45 billion was inadequate compared to the damage done in the region.
He also appealed to the leadership of the National Assembly to look into the possibility of increasing the amount “in the interest of justice”.
Ndume said: “We are appealing to the Federal Government and the leadership of the National Assembly to jerk up the allocation to at least N125 billion.
“Our demand is based on the premise that the International Community under the Humanitarian Response Programme have budgeted $1.05 billion for intervention in the area in 2017.
“Even that amount is meant for three states: Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, targeting about 45 per cent of the humanitarian crisis in the states.
“It is expected that the Federal Government should at least try to match the international bodies in funding critical areas requiring urgent attention in the area.”
Ndume recalled that in the 2016 budget, only N12 billion was allocated to the region.
He said: “What the Nigerian government allocated to the region in the 2016 budget was N12 billion and only 75 per cent of the amount was eventually released.”
Ndume, a member of the Presidential Committee on the North East, said Nigeria received $449 million from donor countries and bodies, compared to the N12 billion allocated to the region in the 2016 budget.
Ndume explained: “We got $449 million, which is about N130 billion, from international donor organisations and countries last year.
“I think the government should try and come up with a reasonable amount for the rebuilding of the North East by jerking up the N45 billion, which is grossly inadequate.”