Ahead of the expected passage of the 2025 budget proposal, the Deputy Spokesman of the House of Representatives, Rep. Philip Agbese, has outlined why certain key government agencies should receive increased funding for the upcoming fiscal year.
The agencies include the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), and the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA).
In an interview in Abuja, Agbese explained that these agencies have been identified as critical to the socio-economic growth and security of Nigeria. He mentioned that improving their funding is a necessary step to ensure their continued contribution to the nation’s development.
He said, “We are making a case for improved funding for the National Identity Management Commission, the National Youth Service Corps, and the Nigerian Defence Academy in the 2025 budget proposal. Other government agencies are likely to benefit from this, too.
“NIMC has become a critical government agency in the past few years. A lot of Nigerians may not know how critical the agency is, but we can’t talk about a national data bank without empowering that commission.
“They came up with a robust projection for 2025, but they can only deliver if they are empowered to train their staff members and acquire the latest technological devices critical to the work they do. Without the NIMC, the war against terrorism will be difficult for the government and the security agencies.”
According to him, the time has come for reforming the NYSC scheme, given its contribution to the nation’s workforce needs in both the public and private sectors.
“The idea of the NYSC must be sustained,, which informed the decision to demand adequate corps flooringcorps funding. It is too early to disclose the amount we have agreed on, but it is important to note that the National Assembly is not happy with the state of the NYSC. We have to fund it better to meet the needs of corps members. During their service years, they gave a lot to the nation in a way that cannot be explained easily,” he added.
He made a similar argument for the NDA, noting that “At a time terrorists continue to come up with new strategies despite the gallantry of our troops; we cannot but devise means to outwit them. One of the ways to do this is to improve the funding of the institutions charged with the mandate of building the capacity of our security personnel to tackle emerging security challenges.
“In all this, we also realized that the budget envelope system is not enough to meet the capital expenditure needs of most of these agencies. If you recall, when the Minister of State for Defence, Bello Matawalle, appeared before the House Committee on Defence to defend the ministry’s budget, one of the things he complained about was the paltry allocation of N50bn in the 2025 budget proposal. It is the same story for other agencies of government.”
