Former Senate Leader, Senator Ali Ndume, has commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for approving salary increases of between 30 and 80 per cent for personnel of the Nigerian Armed Forces, describing the measure as a major boost to military morale.
Ndume, a former Chairman of the Senate Committee on Army, however, urged the President to go further by placing the Armed Forces’ annual budget on First-Line Charge to eliminate bureaucratic bottlenecks and ensure troops receive weapons, ammunition and other operational necessities promptly.
President Tinubu had approved the salary review for about 250,000 military personnel, with the new rates expected to take effect next month.
Under the arrangement, the annual salary bill of the Armed Forces will rise from ₦660 billion to ₦924 billion.
Officers above the rank of colonel, including brigadier-generals, major-generals, lieutenant-generals and generals, will receive a 30 per cent increase, while personnel from colonel down to warrant officer will get 50 per cent.
Those from the rank of private to staff sergeant will receive the highest increase of 80 per cent.
Ndume described the development as a welcome intervention, saying improved welfare would help strengthen the morale and commitment of troops engaged in counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency operations.
He said the salary review, coming shortly after the President approved the expansion of the military’s divisions from eight to 12, indicated that the administration was developing a broader strategy to confront terrorism and banditry.
“The review of salary will go a long way in motivating our military personnel. I have been in the vanguard of better motivation for our men and officers in the military in terms of decent living wage,” Ndume said.
The senator said the President had demonstrated responsiveness by listening to legitimate demands for improved welfare for members of the Armed Forces.
But Ndume stressed that better pay alone would not win the war against terrorism, insisting that troops must also have uninterrupted access to modern weapons, ammunition, intelligence and technological tools.
“I have always argued that aside from welfare packages, what they need to deal with insurgents, aside better welfare package and training, is prompt supply of arms and ammunition,” he said.
He urged President Tinubu to sustain his commitment to providing the Armed Forces with the weapons and technological capabilities required to effectively prosecute military operations.
The former Senate Leader renewed his longstanding demand for the military to be funded through First-Line Charge, arguing that the existing envelope-budgeting system exposes critical military operations to unnecessary bureaucratic delays.
According to him, the current funding arrangement creates bottlenecks between the Ministries of Defence and Finance, potentially delaying the release of funds needed for urgent military operations.
“This envelope budgeting is trapped in unnecessary bureaucracy between the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Finance. It is a big encumbrance to effective operations of our men and officers in the war theatre,” he said.
Ndume urged the President to seize the opportunity to reform the military financing architecture by providing for direct statutory transfers from the Federation Account.
“Mr. President should seize the initiative to ensure direct statutory transfer from the Federation Account for the military as it is done with few agencies of government,” he said.
He argued that such an arrangement would ensure predictable and timely funding for military operations while reducing administrative delays that could undermine the effectiveness of troops fighting terrorists and bandits.
Ndume’s position effectively puts military welfare and military financing at the centre of the next phase of Nigeria’s counter-terrorism strategy, insisting that soldiers expected to confront heavily armed criminal and terrorist groups must not be left waiting for weapons, ammunition or operational funds.
The lawmaker maintained that the welfare package should therefore be matched by a sustained investment in military capability if the Federal Government is to translate the current reforms into decisive gains against insecurity.