HOUSE TO INVESTIGATE THE CAUSE OF BORNO IDP CAMP BOMBING, ADOPTS 2017-2018 MTEF/FSP
The House of Representatives has mandated a 10-man delegation to visit the accident site in Rann Community of Borno State where a Jet fighter belonging to the Nigerian Air Force was reported to have bombed an Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp killing several people including the doctors and other humanitarians attending to the IDPs. In a motion which came under matters of urgent public importance moved by Hon. Sani Zorro during plenary session on Wednesday, January 18, 2017, the House was informed that several badly injured people as a result of the air strike had been evacuated to Maduguiri for urgent treatment.
The lawmaker who described the incident as unfortunate especially coming at a time when the nation unanimously celebrated the gallantry of the Nigerian Military as they observed the Armed Forces Day on January 15, called for serious investigation into the cause of the accident. He also prayed the House to delegate some of its members to pay a condolence visit to the affected camp in order to convey the Chamber's thought and empathy with the families of the victims.
Members noted that either lack of Intelligence or improper intelligence gathering and analysis could have been responsible for such an ill-fated attack on the IDPs. They hold sway that even though the Nigerian Air Force has apologized for the unwarranted bombing, alleging that it was a mistake, there is still need to investigate the incident in order to prevent such avoidable mistake from reoccurring in the future. The House observed one minute silence to pray for the peaceful repose of those that lost their lives due to the accidental bombing.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives has considered and adopted the recommendations of the joint Committees of Finance, Appropriations, National Planning and Economic Development, Legislative Budget and Research and Aids Loans and Debt Management on the 2017- 2019 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP), a $44.5 per barrel as the benchmark oil price for the 2017 budget.
The Committee further recommended for the adoption of N305/ US Dollar as proposed by the executive and N807.57 billion for Federal Government Independent Revenue for 2017. Part of what was also adopted was a projection of N5.122 Trillion for non- oil revenue in 2017.