Nigeria’s Senate has suspended the consideration of the 2023 budget for the Ministry of Defence after the minister, Bashir Magashi refused to honour numerous invitations from its adhoc committee on the resuscitation of Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS Aradu), which is the largest on the fleet of the Navy.
READ ALSO: Traders In Fear As Naira Head To N1,000 Per Dollar As Scarcity Worsens
The budget was suspended on Tuesday by the Senate Committee on Defence following an intervention by former Senate Leader, Yahaya Abdullahi (APC Kebbi North), who hinted other members of the committee of an earlier action of the Senate summoning the minister to appear before its adhoc committee as concerns were raised over the Naval ship.
Abdullahi recalled that in February, a motion was raised on the floor of the senate chamber on the need to resuscitate the NNS Aradu, which is Nigeria’s flagship and most powerful in the fleet of Nigerian Navy.
He reminded the lawmakers that Senate subsequently set up an adhoc committee chaired by him to interface with the minister with a view to finding ways to resuscitate the grounded NNS Aradu.
According to Senator Abdullahi, Magashi has refused to honour all the three summons by his adhoc committee in the last three months.
He informed that the powerful naval ship is owned by only three countries in the world, Germany, Argentina and Nigeria.
READ ALSO: Bobrisky Set To Splash N650M Over New Mansion
According to him, the ship is designed to protect Nigeria’s territorial integrity, pointing out that while other countries have maintained their flagship that represents the strength of the navy, that of Nigeria remained grounded.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Defence, Aliyu Wamakko, who also spoke extensively on the need to urgently resuscitate the Navy ship, subsequently asked the Minister of Defence to go with the budget and return only after he had cleared himself with the adhoc committee.
