The House of Representatives has alleged that the Federal Ministry of Justice is stifling the operations of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) by starving it of funds.
The observation was made at the inaugural meeting of the House Committee on Drugs and Narcotics on Monday.
The Committee observed that NDLEA had consistently been starved of funds needed for its operations by its parent ministry.
Speaking, Chairman of the Committee, Francis Agbo (PDP, Benue) said that poor funding of the agency affected its operations and prevented it from discharging its responsibilities optimally.
According to him, the blanket budgeting system adopted by the Ministry of Justice for the agency was hampering the operations of the NDLEA.
The committee chairman disclosed that the agency’s personnel cost of N8 billion takes away a large percentage of its annual budget, lamenting only little will be left for its operations.