By Iyke Obi Durumba
It was the turn of the Ministry of Interior at the ongoing budget defence sessions at the Senate on Tuesday. Minister Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola led top officials of the Ministry as they appeared before the Senate Committee on the Interior to defend their 2021 budget proposals.
Present were committee chairman Kashim Shettima (Borno Central) and his Deputy George Sekibo (Rivers East). Other committee members present include Senators Elisha Abbo (Adamawa North), Olalekan Mustapha (Ogun East), Abubakar Kyari (Borno North) and Chukwuka Utazi (Enugu North).
Shortly after Committee Chairman called the sitting to order, Sen. Abbo raised a point of order noting that the prevailing COVID-19 circumstances made large gatherings untenable. He therefore moved that the Minister’s presentation and other proceedings be abridged as the Senate Hearing Room 224 venue of the sitting was crowded. The committee chairman agreed with him.
In his presentation, Aregbesola said the Ministry had a capital budget of N3.6bn, overheads of N670m, personnel costs of N1.12bn and a revenue target (IGR) of N645m excluding agencies.
Speaking with journalists, Senator Kashim Shettima pledged the support of the National Assembly towards the ongoing recovery efforts after the mayhem which followed the #EndSARS protests.
On his part, Aregbesola assured Nigerians that efforts were on going to assess the extent of damage. “We’re looking at areas where the National Assembly can assist us to quickly renovate, rehabilitate and rebuild destroyed infrastructure,” he said.
