Chairman House Committee on Army, Mr Abdulrazak Namdas, has commended the Nigerian Army for transparency and fairness in the recent recruitment conducted at its training area in Falgore, Kano State.
Namdas gave the commendation when he led members of the committee to Army Headquarters on oversight visit on Thursday, in Abuja.
Namdas said that the House Committee recently constituted a subcommittee on recruitment to look into complaints from some of their constituents about the recruitment process with a view to verifying the allegations.
He said that the sub-committee went to Falgore in Kano State, where the selection exercise took place, saying “we are happy to hear that the Nigerian army made available to the committee the necessary information required.
“We went to Falgore and saw for ourselves all the processes and reported that there was transparency and fairness in the recruitment exercise.
“However, we were made to understand that more infrastructural development is required in Falgore, which Kano State Government had actually contributed and army has started working on the communication network in the area.
“We are aware also that other recruitment exercise is around the corner and we implore you to continue to ensure transparency and fairness.
“We will still be there to see things for ourselves but we are happy that things are being done the ways it is expected,” he said.
Namdas said the visit was part of the committee’s oversight responsibility to ensure that the spending needs of the army was properly ascertained and appropriated for.
He said that President Muhammadu Buhari had given top most attention to defence and security, adding that the sector had the largest chunk of the recently presented 2022 budget with over N2 trillion.
According to him, it is in view of this that the committee decided to come down to see value for money and what the Nigerian army has been able to do with resources that had been made available and what they will need again.
“We have been monitoring the activities of the Chief of Army Staff as a committee and we realised that you have made tremendous progress.
“Achievements have been recorded within the short period of your assumption of office and of course, we are also aware that there are challenges as an institution.
“That is why it will be required of us to move down and see the challenges, improvements and achievements that have been made so that when we are doing the 2022 budget we will be able to prioritise what you require,” he said.
The Committee chair commended the army chief for the commencement of new exercise in different parts of the country to curtail security threats ahead of year end festivities.
He said the training exercises that would snowball into real time operation were necessary to keep troops fit and prepared to perform the tasks of keeping the nation safe.
Namdas, however, urged army authorities to ensure that troops operated within the acceptable procedures devoid of human rights violations.
He also commended army chief for responding proactively to the recent case of assault on a youth corps member by a female officer in Calabar, saying the parliament was happy with the action taken against the officer.
Namdas also expressed the readiness of the National Assembly to support the Nigerian army in actualising its plan to have an aviation unit.
Responding, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Faruk Yahaya, commended the committee for its continuous support in ensuring that the Nigerian army delivered on its constitutional mandate.
Yahaya said the visit of NASS members to locations would help them to see things on the field and urge them to undertake visits to locations for proper understanding of the workings of Nigerian army.
He said the establishment of army aviation was crucial to the army operations, adding that it would continue to leverage on the NASS’s support to actualise it.
According to him, there is an air force but army aviation is an integral part of its operations, because it is common in all armies globally.
He assured the committee that troops would continue to respect human right, code of conducts and rules of engagements in its various internal security operations across the country.
“We will respect the rights of all law abiding citizens and as for the criminals, the terrorists, bandits, we will speak to them in the language they understand because we are not looking for prisoners when we go there,” he said. (NAN)
