By Celephina Onovo
Criticisms over the planned use of $1 billion from the Excess Crude Account to quell insurgency are expanding by the day.
While the opposition People’s Democratic Party, Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State and Nyesom Wike of Rivers State have vehemently opposed the idea, the Socio-economic Rights Agenda and the national chairman of Conscience Party, Yinusa Tanko have also picked hole in the decision.
Fayose pointedly said he doubted if the money is not meant for the 2019 election.
But Governor Kassim Shettima of Borno State and his counterpart from Zamfara, Yari, both of the All Progressive Congress (APC) have said there was nothing wrong with the deduction, with Shettima saying it was done before by the PDP when the party was in power.
While SERAP wants President Muhammadu Buhari to explain the rationale behind the intention, Tamko said the timing of the withdrawal and purpose are suspicious.
Also, the protem chairman of the newly registered Abundant Nigeria Renewal Party (ANRP) Tope Fisua said the money in question belongs to Nigerians and that the current government should not box itself to the corner over the $1 billion planned deduction.
Fisua agreed with Tanko that at a time when Nigerians are grappling with the issues of poverty the least the government would do now is to put their scarce resources to ventures that are suspicious
Many analysts said Boko Haram has become the largest avenue to defraud Nigerians.
Many have also argued that allocation to the defence should take into consideration the problems of insurgency.