Nigeria’s central bank to collect N13.5bn as charges on military equipment

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is expected to collect N13.5 billion as bank charges for the purchase of military equipment in the country.

President Muhammadu Buhari signed the 2021 supplementary budget of N983billion last month.

The budget is expected to address the country’s security and health needs.

The budget earmarked to the Nigerian Army N207.5 billion, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) N239.4 billion while the Nigerian Navy will receive N157.7 billion.

The Nigerian Army will spend N96.5 billion on equipment while the CBN will charge N6.1 billion to complete the transaction.

The Nigerian Navy had also earmarked N34.6 billion for the purchase of new equipment.

To process this purchase, the apex bank will charge N2 billion.

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The NAF equipment will cost N84.9 billion out of which CBN will make N5.3billion as bank charges.

The Federal Government’s military spending in the last 10 years had been questioned by Nigerians because of the worsening insecurity in the country.

RipplesNigeria previously reported that the country’s spending on arms and ammunition imports climbed to N57.9 billion at the end of 2020.

The figure is according to National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) 2020 fourth-quarter foreign trade report.
The report showed Nigeria spent N233.3 million in 2017, growing to N19.46 billion in 2018, and N12.77 billion in 2019.

This implies that during the last four years, Nigeria has spent N90.45 billion on weaponry imports.

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