National
2025 budget: Defence allocation shows Tinubu’s political will to end insurgency — Okupe
A former presidential spokesman, Dr Doyin Okupe, has said the allocation of N4.91 trillion to defence and security in the 2025 budget underscores the present administration’s seriousness and political will to end insurgency and other security challenges.
Okupe, a former Director-General of Mr Peter Obi Presidential Campaign Organisation in 2023 General Election, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Lagos.
NAN reports that the President had on Wednesday presented the N47.91 trillion 2025 Appropriation Bill , christened “Budget of Restoration, Securing Peace and Rebuilding Prosperity” , to a joint session of the National Assembly .
The President listed highlights of the 2025 budget allocations to include: defense and security: N4.91 trillion; infrastructure: N4.06 trillion; Health: N2.48 trillion and Education: N3.52 trillion.
Reacting, Okupe described the N47.91 trillion budget for 2025 as big and ambitious.
He said that the Appropriation Bill addressed “key sectoral aspects of our national life”.
Okupe noted that the assumptions on which the huge estimates were based were both realisable and achievable.
“The oil daily production of slightly more than N2m barrels, the forex benchmark of N1,500 to the dollar and the projected crude oil price of $75 are all vividly realistic figures going on by current and predictably prevailing global trend.
“The huge allocation of N4.91 trillion (10 per cent) to Defence and Security underscores the seriousness and political will of the administration to finally decimate insurgency and banditry.
“These two plagues are major contributors to food shortage, availability and inflation as they prevent farming activities in the North” Okupe said.
According to him, the significantly increased allocation of funds to social welfare shows government’s concern and intention to attend to the needs of the vulnerable in the society
He also applauded the President for giving priority to education and healthcare, which ,he said, would further improve the nation’s human development index.
“All in all, the huge size of the budget is also indicative of government’s intention to increase its spending thereby providing the necessary impetus for economic growth and increase in purchasing power of the citizens.
“The 2025 budget further strengthens the workability of the Renewed Hope Agenda,” he said.
Recalled that the President said that the budget was a demonstration of government’s commitment to stabilising the economy, improving lives and repositioning the country for greater performance.
He also said the budget sought to consolidate the key policies instituted to restructure the economy, boost human capital development, increase the volume of trade and investments and bolster oil and gas production. (NAN)
Retired Comptroller General of the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), David Shikfu Parradang, has been killed by kidnappers in Abuja.
Intelligence sources told Zagazola Makama that Parradang was abducted in Area 1, Abuja, in the early hours of Tuesday after being trailed from a bank where he had withdrawn money. According to intelligence sources, the assailants took the cash from him before eventually killing him.
The tragic incident has raised fresh concerns over security in the Federal Capital Territory, particularly regarding the increasing cases of kidnappings and targeted attacks.
Parradang, who served in the NIS for over 30 years, held various positions across the country, including Comptroller General and postings in Kano, Lagos, Kwara, Enugu, and the Federal Capital Territory. He also attended several professional courses both within Nigeria and internationally.
In recognition of his service, he was awarded the national honour of Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) and was a distinguished graduate of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS).
Security agencies have reportedly launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding his abduction and killing, with efforts ongoing to apprehend the perpetrators.
Concerned youth organisations in Nigeria, Arewa Youths for Good Governance, South-West Youths Development Initiative, Northern Youths for justice and Igbo Youths Progressive Forum have demanded the immediate resignation of the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.
This is coming amid the sexual harassment allegation against the Senate President by a female lawmaker, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.
The allegation, it could be recalled, has dominated the airwaves in the past few days.
In a joint statement made available to journalists on Tuesday, the youths groups said they had expected the Senator to step aside during the Senate plenary on Tuesday.
The statement was signed by the coordinators of the groups- Ismail Jibril, Kehinde Sikiru, Ladoja Kehinde and Jonathan Ezeme.
They declared that: “Nigerians were last Friday treated to an embarrassing news involving the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, with a mind boggling allegation coming from Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.
“Ordinarily, one would have wished away this kind of allegation with a wave of the hand. However, this should not be the case.
“We say this with every sense of responsibility considering that this is not the first time Senator Akpabio is being accused of making such advances on women.
“We have not forgotten how a former Acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Joy Nunieh, claimed Akpabio sexually harassed her. The now Senate President was then Minister of Niger Delta.
“Coincidentally, it was on the same television station where Natasha made this claim that Nuineh granted an interview and leveled allegations against Akpabio.
“She said on national television: Why did he not tell Nigerians that I slapped him in his guest house at Apo? I am the only Ogoni woman, the only Nigerian woman that has slapped him. I slapped him because of his plan B. Since he couldn’t get me to take that money, he thought that he could come up on me. He didn’t know that I’m a Port Harcourt girl. Port Harcourt girls are not moved by money…by somebody telling me that he will make me the substantive MD. Akpabio’s meetings with me were either at Apo or Meridien…Yes, I am accusing him of sexual harassment.”
“Five years after, Senator Natasha has come up to level the same allegation against the Senate President, a development that has brought not just the National Assembly to disrepute but the entire Nigerians.
“We have waited for days, thinking that the Senate President will toe the honourable path, which is to resign; this is the least expected in a sane clime. Unfortunately, he has clung on to his seat, pretending as though nothing had happened.
“This is totally unacceptable as there is no way he can be a judge in his own case. The Senate President cannot preside over a Senate that will have to interrogate the allegations against him. The moral burden is huge.
“Should Akpabio fail to resign, we urge the members of the National Assembly to redeem themselves by impeaching him. This is the only way to restore confidence in the parliament. The National Assembly, known as the Hallowed Chamber, cannot be left to be charmed by someone who has heavy allegations hanging on him. This touches on the root of the nation’s democracy- the parliament.
“It is only when Akpabio has stepped aside that both him and Natasha can appear before a probe committee, and have fair hearing, and justice seen to have been served. Anything to the contract will only lead to more witch-hunt of the female Senator.”
By Amos Tauna, Kaduna
The chairman, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the 19 Northern states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Rev. John Joseph Hayab, has called on well-meaning Nigerians to intervene in the feud between the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan of Kogi Central.
ln a telephone interview, the cleric said that as a responsible religious body, CAN considers the feud “shameful and unfortunate”, calling on Nigerians to intervene to ensure sanity in the National Assembly.
According to the chairman, “There is a need for elders to intervene. Akpabio and Natasha as well as the entire members of the National Assembly are honourable members that should be accorded respect, Nigerians hold them in high regards. The members of the National Assembly should also do whatever at their disposal to ensure they address the matter to give peace a chance.”
He added, “We should show that we are responsible people in addressing any matter that wants to cause any problem, it is not to find fault but to mend fences and move forward as a nation.”
Hayab stated that no one should toy with an allegation of sexual harassment, saying that Nigeria has gone past such things because Nigeria has gone past the era when people claim they are underdogs or minorities.
He urged the media not to fuel the feud in their reportage, saying that doing so would only further confuse and divide Nigerians.
The CAN chairman urged the members of the National Assembly to channel their energies toward making the lives of Nigerians better with their official engagements, having passed the 2025 national budget.
He expressed CAN’s appeal for all groups involved or affected by the Akpabio-Natasha feud to sheath their swords and refrain from making comments capable of further dividing Nigerians along gender or regional lines, stressing that Nigerians should use their as a source of strength to achieve things that are to the overall interests of Nigerians.
Hayab advised, “Let’s give peace a chance.”