Governor Yari speaks on approval of $1bn to fight Boko Haram

- Governor Yari said the approval of $1 billion to fight Boko Haram was a collective agreement

- The Zamfara state governor said this has happened during previous administration

- He insisted that due process was followed for the approval of the fund

Governor Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara state who is the chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum has defended the approval of $1 billion to fight Boko Haram.

The governors met at the Presidential Villa on Tuesday, December 19 to discuss the release of the fund that has generated controversy.

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The Cable reports that the chairman of the forum said the process of approving the fund was done through due process, saying similar approvals were given in previous administration without any problems.

He said: “Nigeria governors forum discussed this issue at our November meeting and we agreed across party lines that this thing was done in 2014 where $2 billion was taken in agreement with the governors.

“And Governor Akpabio was the one who moved the motion at the time. This time around, we realised that there was need to purchase equipment for the military, so we felt we should not compromise the issue of security for the entire country.

“As governors, we agreed to forfeit $1 billion of our own share of excess crude account which we are going to back up with state assembly resolution at a later time.

“This is not the first time a decision like this is being taken, it happened during Jonathan’s era. They took $2 billion. We all agreed at that time collectively in the same chamber to withdraw $2 billion to procure equipment for the military and also for logistics for the military because they were telling us, whether it was true or false that our soldiers were being killed. Some went to social media to say that they were being killed like rats because they didn’t have equipment. That was what generated discussions at the time and there was no controversy, there was no opposition.

“The $2 billion taken under Jonathan’s time did was not backed up by any resolution from the state assemblies.”

Governor Yari also recalled that N5 billion was approved by the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua administration for the Niger Delta.

He said: “There was this decision under Yar’Adua when they were sourcing funds for Niger Delta Power Holdings. They took over N5 billion for power generation, we followed the same process,” he said.

“The money was withdrawn from the excess crude account, and our respective houses of assembly confirmed the resolution.

“We shouldn’t play politics with the issue of national security.”

Concerning the opposition raised by Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti, Yari said: “Gentlemen, this is democracy. Each and every person has his own way to want to look at things and you cannot stop him from agitation.

“At the governors forum, 12 members form quorum. At the time we took this decision, we had 32 members in attendance and there was no single opposition to the decision.

“If anybody has his own way that he wants things to go, we had the majority and there was no even minority opinion at that meeting. We look at the country Nigeria first before any other issue, it is only when you have the country that you can have the politics.”

Legit.ng earlier reported that the federal government on Tuesday, December 19, made a u-turn on its earlier announcement that it needed $1 billion from the Excess Crude Account to push its fight against Boko Haram terrorists.

Premium Times reports that the vice president, Yemi Osinbajo, said the money requested by the federal government is not only for the ongoing counter terrorism war.

Osinbajo speaking at the retreat of secretaries to the government in Abuja said: “It was on account of the security summit that the governors at the Governors’ Forum subsequently decided that they would vote a certain sum of money, which has become somewhat controversial, the $1bn, to assist the security architecture of the country."

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Source: Legit.ng