Members of the House of Representatives
are unimpressed with what they term “poor capital releases” for the 2017
budget just as President Muhammadu Buhari is set to lay the 2018
estimates before the National Assembly, The PUNCH has learnt.....
The 2017 budget of N7.441tn has a
capital component of N2.2tn. But findings indicated that as of the last
releases by the Ministry of Finance, capital funding of projects totaled only N336bn out of the N2.2tn, representing 15.22 per cent. And
there are only 67 days left for 2017 to come to a close.
Lawmakers, who had become impatient with
the development, on Sunday described the release of N336bn out of
N2.2tn as “no budget at all.”
The PUNCH gathered that the
issue was a topic on the agenda of a meeting held by some principal
officers of the House in Abuja last Wednesday.
Concerns were reportedly raised over the
poor releases, particularly for major projects and zonal intervention
projects of National Assembly members.
One senior official of the legislature
stated, “The money made available is not encouraging. The pattern of
spending on recurrent and leaving out capital projects is still
continuing.
“Yes, it is true that the budget was
signed into law in June, but the capital releases should have improved
to at least N800bn by now.”
The PUNCH learnt that out of the N336bn released so far, the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing got the highest allocation of N90bn.
The Ministry of Defence got N71bn;
Ministry of Transportation, N30bn; Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development, N30bn; and Ministry of Water Resources, N12bn.
All other sectors combined received a sum of N103bn, bringing the total to N336bn.
When contacted, the Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Abdulrazak Namdas, confirmed to The PUNCH that there were concerns.
He said, “Actually, more needs to be
done on the implementation level. In terms of the capital releases, only
a few ministries have received money. Attention has been largely given
to works, transport and agriculture. While this is commendable, other
sectors need to benefit too.
“There is a need for the government to increase the capital releases. For now, they are not enough.”
The Chief Whip of the House, a key
principal officer, Mr. Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, also confirmed that there
were worries about the budget.
Ado-Doguwa, a member of the All
Progressives Congress from Kano State, said, “The capital component of
the 2017 budget is as good as no budget at all. It was characterised by
selective implementation and insufficient releases. This was largely
responsible for the unprecedented economic hardships and inactivity in
our economy that depends on government patronage.
“Even the 2018 budget that is expected
to be presented to the National Assembly soon would have no
supplementary relevance to the grossly-underfunded 2017 budget, if it
were to be based on policy continuity and economic coherence.
“I am of the opinion that government
must step up its financing strategy of this budget to be able to turn
around the economy to fight poverty and create jobs for our youths.”
Another member of the House, Mr. Igariwey Iduma-Enwo, told The PUNCH that the slow releases had made the 2016 budget appear better implemented than that of 2017.
Iduma-Enwo, a Peoples Democratic Party
lawmaker from Ebonyi State, added, “Comparatively, the 2016 budget
appeared to be better implemented than the 2017 budget.”
Findings also showed that members held
the view that while it was okay to plan for 2018, what was more urgent
was the timely release of funds for 2017 projects.
“We already have the 2018-2020 MTEF with
us, but our interest is the implementation of what is already on the
ground, the 2017 budget. It is very critical to the full recovery of the
economy from recession. Yes, the government has said that they will
bring the 2018 budget, let them bring it, but how well has the one on
the ground been implemented so far?” Namdas said.
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