The National Economic Council (NEC) at their meeting on Thursday, 14th December 2017, approved that funds of up to US$1bn were to be taken from an excess crude account and pledged towards fighting Boko Haram.
This proposal was opposed by Senator Enyinannya Abaribe who said “only the National Assembly can make appropriations to the security agencies.”
NEC, Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State stated that the approval by the governors to take $1 billion for the war was part of their contribution towards enabling that the terror and strife that has ravaged different parts of the country especially the Boko Haram onslaught in the North East is tackled head-on.
This is amidst news of 5 soldiers who were killed by Boko Haram insurgents in Mainok village in Borno on Wednesday night.
Spokesman of the Theatre Command and Control Centre, Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, who told an online tabloid on Thursday that “normalcy had been restored in the Mainok area.” However, he was not able to give account to an exact number of casualties in the attack
The Federal Government has warned some of the state governors that failure to adhere to the conditions laid down for injecting cash from the budget support facility would result in lost support.