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Tag: budget

  • Yakowa, Al-Makura, Jang present 2013 budget proposals to Assemblies

    Kaduna State Governor Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa and his Nasarawa and Plateau states’ counterparts, Umaru Tanko Al-Makura and Jonah Jang, have presented the 2013 budget proposals.

    Yakowa yesterday presented N176.5billion to the House of Assembly.

    He said his administration would spend 57.9 per cent of the estimate (N102,038,518,425) on ongoing and new projects.

    He said his administration would explore untapped areas of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to generate N29billion to execute vital projects.

    The government is expecting N105,459,728,838, comprising the opening balance of N8,000,000,000; an IGR of N29,087,728,838; Statutory Allocation from the Federation Account N65,000,000,000 and SURE-P of N3,372,000,000.

    The government is also expecting N44,866,605,535 from foreign and local loan sources and N12,966,701,625 from foreign and local grants.

    The governor said the IGR projection for 2013 is realistic.

    He urged the Assembly and the residents to cooperate with his administration to deliver the contents of the budget.

    Yakowa said the government would spend N74,441,824,583 as recurrent expenditure, with the economic sector receiving N33,106,250,100 and the social sector N26,719,764,830.

    According to him, regional development would get N25,867,929,910 and general administration would receive N16,344,573,585.

    Al-Makura presented N107.9billion budget proposal to the Assembly.

    The governor told the lawmakers that the budget would focus on the completion of abandoned projects considered essential for the socio-economic development of the state.

    He said the projects his administration initiated would be completed in the next fiscal year, adding that it would start new ones with direct bearing on the people’s well-being.

    Al-Makura said his administration was implementing the 2012 budget as an Irrevocable Standing Payment Order (ISPO) obligation because of the contractual agreements the previous administrations had in place.

    The governor explained that this was why his administration had been paying a monthly bill of N350,000,000.

    He added that N209,000,000 was also being paid monthly to Plateau State as Paris Club refund.

    According to him, the deductions will continue until May 2014.

    Al-Makura said the government was also paying N8,000,000,000 as irrevocable commitments and debts.

    Jang praesented N133.4 billion budget proposal to the Assembly.

    The governor said his administration would focus on infrastructural development and priorotise security.

    The estimate showed a recurrent expenditure of N48.3billion and a capital expenditure of N85 billion.

    Jang named the 2013 budget estimate as Budget of Continuity and Inclusive Growth III.

    The governor said he would ensure a faithful implementation of the budget through vigorous internal revenue mobilisation and generation, prudent utilisation of resources and commitment to the contents.

    He said: “These estimates may appear ambitious, but we are positive that with our renewed vigour in internal revenue mobilisation and generation, prudent utilisation of resources and commitment towards achieving our vision, we will achieve the targets set out in the budget.

    “We only require the cooperation and understanding of all citizens.

    “The Works and Housing sector takes the lion’s share, with N14billion, being allocated for the construction of new and ongoing road projects. This is followed by Education, with an allocation over N7billion.

    “The Healthcare and Agricultural sectors will have N5.4 billion and N2.8billion.”

    House of Assembly Speaker John Clark Dabwan promised the lawmakers’ cooperation to enable the government implement the budget effectively.

  • Reps insist on completion of 2012 budget

    Reps insist on completion of 2012 budget

    •President requests extra N161.6b for fuel subsidy

    The House of Representatives has resolved not to pass the 2013 budget until contending issues in this year’s budget are resolved.

    At plenary yesterday, the House directed its committees on Finance and Appropriation to compile and present a report on outstanding revenues and expenditures in this year’s budget and propose a plan for the full implementation of the budget within one week.

    President Goodluck Jonathan has sent a letter to the lawmakers, requesting N161, 617, 364, 911 supplementary budget to subsidise petroleum products until the end of this fiscal year.

    In the letter, which was read to the House by Speaker Aminu Tambuwal, Jonathan said forensic audit showed that the N881.1 billion provision for fuel subsidy in this year’s budget was underestimated.

    He said as at now, N880,264,243,683.61 has been paid out, leaving a balance of N7,735,756,316.39 for subsidy payment.

    The President said: “In order to accommodate the outstanding arrears resulting from the forensic audit and the remaining period of this year, an additional sum of N161,617,364,911 is required.

    “Given the need to maintain a steady flow of petroleum products, especially in the run-up to the festive season, it is my hope that the honourable members will kindly accord this request their traditional expeditious consideration and approval.”

    The lawmakers frowned at the request, which came barely 20 days to the end of the year.

    They unanimously agreed to ensure the conclusive implementation of this year’s budget.

    Under Matters of Urgent Public Importance, Mr. Abdulrahman Terab (ANPP, Borno) said with infrastructural deficit of over N4 trillion and a very high unemployment rate of over 70 per cent, the country must be accountable and transparent in all its revenue matters.

    Terab said the budget was significant in meeting the social and economic needs of the people through the provision of public goods and services.

    He said: “We are concerned that the revenue receipts so far for 2012 have been confirmed to be higher than what was projected for in the 2012 budget.

    “Consequently, the fourth quarter capital releases made to Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) this month, despite being inadequate on the percentage of budget implementation, were found to be inconsistent. Hence, only about 30 per cent of the allocated value were actually remitted to the MDAs.

    “At this moment in December, we cannot fully claim capital releases to average 60 per cent across the board to MDAs”

    Terab also questioned the whereabouts of recovered funds, non-oil excess revenue, the 2012 unspent revenue, pension reform and fake subsidy claims.

    He said the funds were not captured in the 2013 Appropriation Bill and were not provided as opening balances in the 2013 Expenditure Account.

    The lawmaker expressed concern that most of the capital projects captured in this year’s budget may be abandoned.

    This, he said, would lead to waste of all the resources that were committed to the projects and increase the nation’s infrastructural deficit.

    Terab said: “The implication of all this is that the nation’s 2012 growth projections will be completely eroded and difficult to justify.

    “If the House did not come to the rescue of the 2012 budget, the dream of Nigeria becoming one of the 20 great economies by 2020 can no longer be achievable.

    “Consistent missing of target plans translates to failure.”

    Chairman of the Committee on Appropriation, John Enoh (PDP, Cross River) questioned the impact of this year’s budget on the economy.

    Chairman, Committee on Finance, Abdulmumin Jibrin (PDP, Kano) wondered if the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) had not become a barrier to infrastructural growth with its burdensome procedures.

     

     

     

     

  • CPC cries foul over N972m budget for coal feasibility

    CPC cries foul over N972m budget for coal feasibility

    The Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Enugu State chapter, has raised the alarm over the fate of the coal-to-power-project of the President Goodluck Jonathan administration, following the alleged misappropriation of funds budgeted for its feasibility studies.

    In a statement signed by the governorship candidate of the party in the last general election, Osita Okechukwu, CPC said it was alarmed that the project might be dead on arrival as the N972 million appropriated in the 2012 federal budget for the feasibility study of coal deposits on the Enugu, Kogi and Gombe axes was allegedly being fleeced.

    Okechukwu, who is also the National Publicity Secretary of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), alleged that N138 million had been spent on spurious sub-heads.

    He said: “We hoped the unemployment in Enugu, Kogi, Gombe and adjoining states would be reduced with the Coal-Fired-Power-Plants when President Jonathan made this a hallmark of his road map to Power Sector Reform.

    “It will be recalled that an Inter-Ministerial-Committee, comprising Power, Solid Minerals, Environment and Water Resources, was set up with the mandate to work out the modalities to utilise coal to power. The target was 2000 mega watts, upon which the Power Ministry secured N972 million in the 2012 budget to conduct bankable feasibility studies, because of unreliable coal data available in Nigeria.”

    The CPC chieftain noted that the two consultants –ACWA and WAPCOS, engaged by the Inter-Ministerial Committee, had concluded their jobs and had been paid for pre-qualifying the companies that expressed interest in conducting the survey, but a few weeks to the end of the financial year, the outgoing Permanent Secretary in the Power Ministry, Dr. Dera Awosika, had not only frustrated the efforts to jump start the survey, but had also under spurious sub-heads expended N138 million without the award of the survey contract.

  • Amosun presents N112.86b Budget

    Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun yesterday presented the proposed N211.86 billion Budget for next year to the House of Assembly.

    The proposal, which represents a 5.6 per cent increase compared with the 2012 figure of N200.55 billion, was tagged: “Budget for sustainable growth’’.

    Amosun said that the budget was geared towards the actualisation of his administration’s mission to rebuild the state.

    A breakdown of the budget shows that the education sector has the lion share of N43.44 billion, representing 20.50 per cent of the budget.

    This is closely followed by rural and infrastructure development/employment generation with N39.92 billion which represents 18.70 per cent.

    The governor said affordable housing and urban renewal in the budget would gulp N29.62 billion, while N14.72 billion would be expended on efficient health care delivery, representing 6.95 per cent.

    Agricultural production/industrialisation has a share of N10.69 billion representing 5.05 per cent while N73.48 billion goes to sundry matters.

    The sum of N118.23 billion was earmarked for capital expenditure, representing 56 per cent, with N93.64 billion which represents 44 per cent, targeted for recurrent expenditure.

    The expected total revenue in the new budget is fixed at N148.75 billion while the proposed capital receipt is estimated at N63.11 billion.

    Amosun assured the people that ongoing road projects would be completed before this tenure expires.

    There are over 16 ongoing road projects across the state.

    The governor said: “These ambitious road projects cannot all be completed next year, but they will surely be completed by this administration.

    “Efforts would be directed to the completion of the 15 model schools, the building of 13 additional ones and the renovation of 200 secondary schools, among others.”

    Speaker Suraj Adekunbi assured Amosun of the Assembly’s cooperation with the other arms of government to meet the yearnings of the people.

     

  • Akpabio presents N459.305b Budget

    Akwa Ibom State Governor Godswill Akpabio yesterday presented a proposed N459.305 billion Budget to the House of Assembly for next year.

    The proposed budget is N73.808 billion lower than this year’s N533.113 billion budget.

    The proposal, tagged “Budget of Industralisation and Consolidation”, comprises N118.790 billion for recurrent expenditure and N340.515 billion for capital projects.

    Recurrent revenue is estimated at N370.288.

    Akpabio said N289 billion would be obtained from the Derivation Fund; N38 billion from Statutory Allocation; N27.035 billion from Internally Generated Revenue (IGR); N13 billion from Value Added Tax (VAT) and N3.254 billion from Parastatals.

    The Economic Sector is to receive N174.389 billion; Social Services, N68.782; Environmental and Urban Development, N34.633 billion and General Administration, N62.711 billion.

    Akpabio said one of the strategies for implementing the 2013 Budget is to build a strong fiscal regime through the expansion of the revenue base and the elimination of wastages and leakages.

    Assessing the 2012 Budget, the governor said: “It was a huge success for the 2012 Budget to be passed into law last year before the 2012 fiscal year began. This administration did its best to implement the budget as passed by the House.

    “We added consolidation in next year’s budget proposal because the industralisation projects that were enunciated in the 2012 budget will be pursued and consolidated on to give the state an industrial boost. We will focus on the completion of ongoing projects across the state.

    “Already, our tremendous achievements in various aspects of our corporate existence have resulted in phenomenal development that has never been seen in Nigeria before.

    “We intend to make our people happy, prosperous, healthy and fulfilled in life through the improvement and sustenance of the on-going socio-economic transformation projects.”

  • Reps committee walk minister out at budget defence

    Reps committee walk minister out at budget defence

    The House of Representatives has expressed concern over President Goodluck Jonathan’s failure to prioritise science and technology in next year’s budget.

    Besides, the lawmakers walked out the Minister of Science and Technology, Prof Ita Okon Bassey-Ewa, from the ministry’s 2013 budget defence session for failing to aggregate the ministry’s 2012 budget performance.

    Bassey-Ewa, who appeared before the Committee on Transport, yesterday also angered the lawmakers over the appointment of a substantive Director-General for the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI)

    Chairman of the Committee Abiodun Akinlade regretted that President Jonathan could not include science and technology in his six priority areas in the budget.

    The minister was walked out for“not taking the Committee seriously” and shouting back at the lawmakers.

    The drama began when Bassey-Ewa was requested to put the 2012 budget performance of the Ministry in percentage, which he failed to do.

    Akinlade said it was not the first time that the minister has failed as he could not convert to percentages his ministry’s performance for the year during their last oversight visit to the ministry.

    “The minister has never taken the committee seriously. I can recollect that he also failed to provide the percentage performance of his ministry when we went to his office for oversight functions sometime ago.”

    But Bassey-Ewa retorted angrily, shouting: “We are prepared; we are prepared. You can see that I have been trying to compute the percentage.”

    He was, however , asked to leave the session after being cautioned. The minister insisted that he was shouted at first by the lawmakers.

    Bassey-Ewa was also advised to get himself acquainted with his ministry’s activities before appearing again for another budget defense.

    In a related development, the lawmakers blasted the Ministry of Power for its inability to utilise half of funds released for its capital projects this year.

    The sum of N75.464billion was budgeted for the ministry’s capital projects while N34.765billion was released by the Ministry of Finance.

    Though the ministry could only utilise N19.763billion, the lawmakers, nonetheless, lamented that less that 40 per cent of the total allocation have been released by the Ministry of Finance.

    The lawmakers noted that it was the reason behind the ministry’s failure to address the perennial power challenges in the country.

    Committee Chairman Patrick Ikhariale said: “As at November, the ministry still has such a huge amount of money yet it has not utilised the money.

    “What this means is that the ministry does not need such amount of money because if it needs the money it would have done something with it.

    “With the way the ministry is going, it is hoped that it will not cause the collapse of the power sector.

    “N15billion not utilised is highly embarrassing, the committee is of the opinion that the ministry should be given what it would be able to use.

    “This year budget is not going to be the normal ritual, we are going to do a thorough job.”

     

  • Budget: Senate slams Education, Housing for poor implementation

    Budget: Senate slams Education, Housing for poor implementation

    The Senate yesterday expressed worry that the 2012 budget implementation is still below 50 per cent, 41 days to the end of the 2012 fiscal year.

    The Chairman, Senate Committee on Education, Senator Uche Chukwumerije and his counterpart in the Committee on Housing, Land and Urban Development, Senator Bukar Abba Ibrahim, expressed the disappointment of the Senate over the development.

    The lawmakers spoke separately at the 2013 budget defence of the Ministries of Education and Housing, Land and Urban Development in Abuja.

    Chukwumerije noted that while it was commendable that the level of allocation to the education sector for 2013 went up, it was regrettable that the level of implementation of the 2012 budget remained below 50 per cent.

    He said while the scenario holds true for all the sectors, its impact on the education sector is most severe.

    Chukwumerije said it is of importance that the executive arm of the government appreciates the imperative of releasing funds in time.

    He said the oversight visit of his committee to a number of institutions identified the three main deficiencies in the areas of infrastructure, faculty and content.

    The lawmaker noted that while funding may not be adequate to deal with the deficiencies, it is the intention of the committee to evolve and find a solution to the contents and access to content problem.

    According to him, the ultimate goal of an academic institution is to deliver effective content.

    The total budget allocation proposed for the Education sector in the 2013 budget estimate is N427.515 billion, as against N409.531 billion allocated to the sector in the 2012 budget.

    This amounts to an increase of about N17.984 billion for 2013.

    But Senator Chukwumerije regretted a decrease of N6.692 billion in the proposed capital estimate of the Education Ministry, saying the sharp decrease is not healthy for a sector that needs improved funding to address decayed infrastructural facilities, renovation of dilapidated hostels, classrooms and laboratories in tertiary institutions.

    He noted that although the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETF) is assisting in intervening in the funding of special projects in tertiary institutions and Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) in basic education and secondary institutions, there is need to increase the capital cost of institutions.

    The committee, he assured, “hopes to look into this unnecessary shortfall in capital cost to reposition our institutions in world ranking and provide an enviable learning environment for our children.”

    Chukwumerije appealed to the executive arm to complement the intended early passage of the 2013 budget by the release of the amount appropriated by the National Assembly.

    Senator Ibrahim said from the document available to his committee, what has been released to the Ministry of Housing, Land and Urban Development is N18.3 billion.

    The amount, he said, is below 50 per cent of the total allocation to the ministry for 2012.

    Ibrahim lamented that going by the submission from the ministry, the budget performance is only 43 per cent.

    He said he wondered how the budget performance of the ministry would be improved when it remained only 41 days to the end of the fiscal year.

    He alleged: “The Minister of Finance keeps lying that the budget performance is 56 per cent.

    “But Madam Minister (referring to the Minister of Housing, Ms Amal Pepple), you will agree with me that your budget performance is 43 per cent.

    “The Minister of Finance keeps lying to Nigerians about budget performance.

    “The Ministry of Finance is a big magician. It fiddles with figures.

    “Those in the Ministry of Finance think they know everything when they don’t know anything.”

    The committee was not comfortable that the ministry spent N85 million on trips to allegedly supervise a project meant to cost N20 million.

    According to the committee, the ministry should have reduced the number of trips to save money for the project.

    The committee was informed that the ministry has over 40,000 land cases.

    Head, Legal Department of the ministry, Bose Bakare, also said the ministry has nine lawyers to handle the cases.

    She told the committee that the court cases are mostly scattered in Abuja, Lagos, Edo, Anambra, Enugu and Oyo states.

  • Edo governor to present 2013 budget tomorrow

    Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole will, tomorrow, present the 2013 budget proposal to the House of Assembly.

    This was contained in a letter dated October 6 and signed by the Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Simon Imuekhemen, on behalf of the governor.

    In the letter, which was read during plenary session yesterday, Oshiomhole sought the lawmakers’ permission to present the proposed 2013 Appropriation Bill to the House.

    In another letter dated November 1, the governor requested the amendment of the law establishing the Agency for Information, Communication and Technology (ICT).

     

  • Oshiomhole to present 2013 budget Thursday

    Oshiomhole to present 2013 budget Thursday

    Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole will on Thursday present the 2013 budget proposal to the Edo State House of Assembly.

    This was contained in a letter dated October 6 and signed by Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Simon Imuekhemen.

    Oshiomhole in the letter, read during plenary session on Tuesday, sought the lawmakers’ permission to present the 2013 appropriation bill to the house for approval.

    The letter titled: “Request for urgent attention to present the 2013 budget estimate by the governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole,” reads “I have been directed by the governor of Edo State, comrade Adams Oshiomhole to request the honourbale house to grant him audience during the plenary session of the house on Thursday November 8, 2012 to present the 2013 budget estimate to the House of Assembly.”

    Oshiomhole in another letter dated November 1, 2012 requested for the amendment of law establishing the Agency for Information, Communication and Technology (ICT).

     

  • Imoke presents N151b 2013 budget

    Imoke presents N151b 2013 budget

    The Cross River State Government has proposed a budget of N151,376,066,780.75 for next year.

    Governor Liyel Imoke yesterday presented the proposed budget to the House of Assembly in Calabar.

    He said the proposal, tagged Budget of Commitment, aims to consolidate on the achievements made in 2012.

    Imoke said 70 per cent of the budget was voted to capital expenditure and 30 per cent to recurrent expenses.

    He said: “We hope to achieve this by raising N71,145,702,146,74 from recurrent sources, N75,730,364,634.01 from capital receipts and an estimated opening balance of N4,500,000,000.”

    The break down of the budget is as follows: Economic Sector, N117,970,733, 872.69; Social Services, N6,688,894,814.57; Regional Development, N15,040, 526,217.24 and General Administration, N11,675,911,876.25.

    Imoke said the economic sector, which has the highest allocation of 53 per cent, would stimulate growth and create jobs.