Buhari approves N134.7bn for military veterans
President Muhammadu Buhari has announced the approval of N134.7 billion for the payment of Security Exclusion Allowance (SDA) to all veterans.
The President spoke at the launch of the Armed Forces Remembrance Day 2023 Appeal and Emblem Fund in the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Wednesday, November 16.
Buhari pledged the federal government’s commitment to veterans’ welfare by ensuring prompt payment of their pensions and other entitlements, which had been demonstrated by his approval of SDA payment to veterans beginning in 2017.
The President hailed the efforts of the Nigerian Armed Forces to curb banditry, kidnappings, assaults and the killing of innocent citizens, saying these “vices foreign to our culture” are on the decline.
He said normalcy is gradually returning to some affected parts of the country due to the increased military campaign to decimate subversive elements involved in destructive activities such as ”insurgency in the northeast, militancy in the Niger Delta” as well as ethnic groups and religious tensions in some communities.
The Minister of Defense, Major-General. Bashir Magashi, pledged that the Ministry would continue to ensure prompt payment of entitlements and death benefits to deceased military personnel.
