The Nation Newspaper

Tag: projects

  • Local govt chief inspects projects

    The Sole Administrator of Lagos Island East Local Development Area Mr Bashir Abiola Are has inspected some bad areas in order to improve their situation.

    He said the inspection was borne out of the need to ensure that residents live in clean and healthy environment. He also inspected some roads being constructed by the council.

    The council chief said he is committed to ensuring that residents enjoy decent environment that will improve their well-being promising to construct drainage system in most areas of the council in order to reduce the effects of flooding.

    Mr Are stated this during his inspection tour to some of the dirty areas and blocked drainage systems; especially that beside Adeniji Adele Police Station. He expressed disgust over residents’ nonchalant attitude towards the environment, saying that indiscriminate dumping of garbage in the drainage has constituted huge problem of erosion.

    He warned that the council would arrest and prosecute anybody caught dumping garbage in the drainage systems.

    He used the event as a showcase to enlighten the residents on the dangers of flooding which could result from the blockage of water channels with garbage and other particles such as used sachet and table water plastic. He emphasised that as the rainy season is getting to its peak, prevention is better than cure.

    Mr Are also urged the residents to always patronise Private Support Partnership (PSP) operators in order to dispose properly their domestic wastes.

    Contributing, Chairman of Community Development Committee (CDC), Mr. Olatunji Sanyan promised to double effort in ensuring that residents are committed to keeping their surroundings clean. He urged the government to intensify its efforts in enlightening the people on sanitation and environmental laws, even as he said the people need to be sensitised to the dangers of indiscriminate dumping of garbage in drainage systems; an action he said is harmful to the environment.

    Responding, one of residents, Mr. Awere Owolabi thanked the council chief for taking the development of the area seriously and opening the waterways to ensure free flow of water, which he said would have spelt doom for them.

    To ameliorate the suffering of road users, the council has taken some steps in fixing some the drainage systems that are in bad shape. It has also begun reconstruction work on Thomas, Odunfa, Evans, Koilo and Olushi streets.

    While inspecting the level of work done, the council chief expressed his displeasure over the quality of work so far done by the contractor handling the projects. He revealed that the council will invite the contractor for a discussion, even as he pleaded with residents to bear the pains resulting from the reconstruction work, adding that it is for the benefit of us all.

  • NLC to Fed. Govt: reimburse states for projects

    NLC to Fed. Govt: reimburse states for projects

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has urged the Federal Government to reimburse states for repair of some federal roads.

    The refund will enable the states to pay salaries, pensions and contractors’ debts, NLC president Ayuba Wabba told The Nation.

    Wabba said the reimbursement of the states would stimulate the economy.

    He said the government should devise palliative measures to help Nigerians who now have  to pay more for goods and services without a comensurate rise in salaries, pen sions and other earnings.

    Wabba urged Nigerians to use the  Eid-el-Fitri celebration to reflect on the state of the nation in order to confront its challenges.

    “I have no doubt that with discipline, piety, humility, scholarship, good neighbourliness or a sense of consideration for others and renewal of our faith in God, we shall prevail.

    “Eid-el-Fitr avails us an opportunity to deepen our faith in our country and our belief in ourselves to fight the vices that divide us as well as stifle national development such as corruption, social injustice, inequity, discrimination, politics of exclusion and other vices. It also avails us an opportunity to experience the pains and pangs of hunger of the poor, the deprived and the excluded,” he said.

    In another development, the NLC has donated N1 million to the family of rights activist, Chima Ubani, who died in a road accident on September 25, 2005.

    Ayuba, who promised to sustain the gesture for five years, said the fund would support the tuition fee and other expenses of Ubani’s children.

    He praised the late Ubani for his impact in the labour struggle, adding that his effort would be documented.

    Meanwhile, members of the civil liberties organisations, who attended the meeting between the family and NLC, urged Wabba to unite the NLC, saying division among its members would hinder it’s development. Ubani’s widow, Ochuwa collected the cheque on behalf of the family.

  • ‘16 states abandoned 221 constituency projects’

    More than 221 constituency projects were abandoned in 16 states in 2015, a civic technology organisation, BudgIT Nigeria, has said.

    Of the 436 projects tracked in the 16 states, about 145 projects were completed, while 77 of the projects are ongoing, the organisation said.

    The states tracked by BudgIT include: Lagos, Edo, Ondo, Delta, Jigawa, Niger, Kebbi, Kano, Kaduna, Gombe, Kogi, Ogun, Imo, Anambra, Cross River and Oyo.

    Every year, the Federal Government budgets huge amounts on constituency projects across the country.

    The government budgeted N100 billion for the same projects in the N6.6 trillion budget this year.

    BudgIT’s Team Leader/Founder Oluseun Onigbinde explained that contract inflation by contractors was one reason constituency projects are abandoned.

    Onigbinde, who said this in Abuja at the weekend at the launch of 2015 constituency project report, said one of the challenges to development was the lack of access to information about projects in communities by citizens.

    “The unusual cost of construction in the country compared to its peers worldwide is mindboggling, thereby making contractors the biggest beneficiaries of developmental projects rather than the people,” he said.

    Onigbinde said most citizens are not aware of the existence of constituency projects in their communities because of secrecy in the preparation, enactment and lack of transparency to show that such project exists.

    He said: “We have 221 abandoned projects, 145 were completed, and 77 are ongoing. The number tracked was 436 in 16 focus states. One of the challenges to development is the lack of access to information about projects in communities.

    “Public projects, such as the construction of rural roads, schools, clinics and religious houses are often phrased in technical jargons, making it difficult for citizens to comprehend the budgetary information.

    “Citizens are not aware of the budgetary provisions for constituency projects. Secrecy in the preparation, enactment, and implementation of the budget, as well as a pervasive lack of transparency conspires to keep citizens in the dark as to what their government owes them.

    “Many projects were signed off and contractors were paid, with little or no follow-up reporting and assessment by government authorities. A corollary effect is that citizens are often restricted from asking questions due to the absence of information on project stipulations and status. Lack of an effective monitoring and evaluation body to verify project implementation and standards budget or project tracking is a vital aspect of the budget implementation process.

    “Certain projects in the budget are brazenly not executed as specified in the budget. There are several instances where the actual work done does not match the description of the budget provision. An example is the N20 million construction of two units of two blocks of three classrooms at Dakata and Tudun Murtala wards in Nasarawa Local Government in Kano State, where only one block of  two classrooms was built, despite an awareness of the authorities that this project was being tracked.”

    He, therefore, called on government to ensure that constituency projects are effectively monitored to ensure proper implementation.

    “Effective monitoring of awarded projects eliminates the opportunity for corruption; the use of substandard products; ensures the durability of project structures; enhances citizens’ trust in government and safeguards innocent lives from untimely death and needless injury,” he added.

  • Why govt may stop funding constituency projects, by SGF

    Why govt may stop funding constituency projects, by SGF

    Continued from last Thursday

    What has delayed the appointments of people into Federal Government boards?

    Let me tell you; it took some of the previous governments two years to make board appointments. Now, the issue of board appointments is moving faster than in previous governments. We need to do it very diligently. Up until September, only the president and vice president were running the country and their hands were too full for them to get engaged in board appointments. Then the SGF, Chief of Staff and quite some few others came on board, and it is the OSGF that co-ordinates all of these. The president approved the setting up of a committee late last year to do this. The first thing the committee did was to set up criteria for people who would merit being on a board in an APC government. We needed to get all the parastatals whose boards need to be constituted. Then we did what we called ceding, in the sense that we needed to share the boards in an equitable manner among all the states so that each state, as much as possible, would have its own fair share of board chairmen and board members. I think we started with close to 400 or 500 parastatals. It was not a mean job with board membership of, in those days, I think five to 6, 000 people -chairmen and members- from all the states and we decided to cede them in such a way that when it comes to a state, the board membership must also be representative of the local governments there. So, first, we ceded among the zones, then we said okay, maybe north east zone has 20 chairmanships and 1,000 board membership, then we go back and share the chairmanship in an equitable manner according to the weight of the parastatals because in government I understand there is Category A, B and C boards so that you do not end up with only Category C or A; so it is not a very simple job. While we were doing this, the government had to also look at the Oronsaye report which recommends the scrapping or merging of some parastatals. There was a White Paper by the former government on the implementation of the Oronsaye Report. So, this government decided to study that report which had very good merit in it because a lot of the parastatals were just doing nothing or were doing what others were doing.

     

    So, in considering the Oronsaye Report, is there any likelihood of carrying out the merger or scrapping of parastatals?

     Look, the Oronsaye Report is domiciled here as the Secretary to the Government of the Federation. They did a good job, not necessarily that everything is acceptable. What happened to the Oronsaye Report is that they made their recommendations and took it to the Cabinet. By the time the White Paper came out, it appeared that only 40 per cent of the recommendations were approved for implementation by the White Paper. It appeared that every minister started defending his staff. So, for example, parastatals recommended for scrapping suddenly found themselves in the survival list, because government is like that. So, the Oronsaye Report was completely mutilated during the White Paper. While the activity in itself was commendable, as a government, it is only natural that we look at it in the context of our own objectives. So, we are looking at it. A lot of hardwork went into it, and we would like to study it and implement it in agreement with our policies.

     

    Are you most likely to also look at the 2014 Confab Report in that manner?

     Well, the government has not taken a decision on the 2014 National Conference. I understand that some Nigerians want it implemented but the government has been too busy with key areas of governance to talk about an exercise that we thought was essentially diversionary and a sort of, maybe, a ‘job for the boys’, because if you remember, it was reported that almost everybody in the committee got N7 million, and we consider it essentially as job for the boys. They probably produced a document that is good and commendable but I mean, this government is too busy with very more vital areas of governance, and we are not intending to spend our time reading reports. The exercise of governance is not about reading reports. The reports are here, so many volumes that for example, it would take me like seven days to go through. Economy needs attention I wonder what happens to my work while I am reading it; while the economy needs attention, unemployment is there, insecurity is there, people are blowing up pipelines and so on.

    How true is the allegation in some quarters that you are responsible for the travails of the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu?

    Let me tell you, the Office of the Secretary to Government is the punching bag of everybody, and that is how it should be. My own understanding of the present government in relation with the opposition is such that the integrity of our president has been established over his almost 73 years as solid; you cannot assail it. So, the only option left for you as a ‘dirty’ opposition since you must attack the government is to attack those less known. And those less known that are easy targets, that they think when they attack them, they are attacking the president are the SGF, the Chief of Staff, Minister of Petroleum and the CBN Governor, for one reason. These are appointive positions; they are not elective. Probably, they think that “oh, if we make him look dirty, the president would sack me.” In my life, I have seen Ekweremadu for, maybe twice, and the second one, was incidentally, in a church in Yola. I do not understand the psychology of, when you are accused of something, instead of defending yourself, you waste your time hunting for who could have been the cause of your travails. If they remove Ekweremadu as the Deputy Senate President, how does that personally benefit us? Of course, while I was in the party then as National Vice Chairman, it was the party position that because we are the majority party in Parliament, that we should produce all the Principal Officers. To that extent as an APC member, I am not happy that APC has not produced the deputy senate president. It is an aberration, but the senators decided, which is their constitutional right, to create the aberration. The solution, if they need any solution would lie with them not BD Lawal, not SGF because I am not a senator. I am the SGF. So, whoever tells you that I am responsible for the travails of Sen. Ekweremadu is burying his head in the sand rather than running.

     

    When is the president going to start dealing with corrupt persons in APC?

     Let us be very sincere and reasonable. Obviously, to my mind, the preponderance of corrupt people would be in the PDP for one reason; they have been in government for 16 years and they were the only ones enjoying the booty, and they were doing it in a flagrant manner. Tracing my own (political) genealogy for instance, from ANPP to CPC and now APC, we were not getting anything. Nobody was giving us contracts. PDP were the ones in government; they were the ones the president was approving money for sharing; they were the ones that took government money to fund their election. This is the truth. APC had no access to government money to fund the president’s election. It got to a stage when PDP saw it clearly on the wall; you remember they even shifted the elections; it was so clear they were going to lose, and so they thought they could buy it. Throughout the last tenure of the Goodluck Jonathan campaign, their goodwill among Nigerians was on the decline and they were spending, and it got to a stage that they did not care about following the due process anymore because they thought they were in power and they thought they could buy their way through and remain in perpetuity. So, they became even careless about the manner they were taking the money. Remember Nigeria even borrowed $100million from the international market to fund the war on Boko Haram and they simply shared it. APC did not go to borrow anywhere. We were not sharing oil wells. We had no access to NNPC funds. So, if these agencies were converted into agencies for looting and pilfering, it is obvious that even if we had corrupt men in the APC, they did not have the opportunity to steal, and that is assuming we had. I cannot, in all honesty, say that all of us in APC are saints, but the truth is, we did not have access to funds to steal in the first place, and so we did not have opportunity also to reject the stealing. So, let them roast in their stew. Let them carry their cross. They can make all the noises and try to deflate APC, but our hands are clean by providence. Look, let us face it. If they arrest you, why don’t you say, ‘I shared the money with so and so persons’ and then let him turn out to be in APC? Those that they are arresting, it is from the interrogation that the information burst out. Let them leave us alone. This is just the beginning. They will return our money by the time we finish digging their soak-aways and bringing down their (overhead) tanks; we would recover our money.

  • NASS and constituency projects

    In its editorial of June 26, with the title Unholy Alliance, The Nation castigated the National Assembly over its insistence on the implementation of constituency projects in the 360 Federal Constituencies and 109 Senatorial Districts.

    On June 20, the House of Representatives in conjunction with the National Institute for Legislative Studies (NILS) organised a one-day summit on Political Representation and Constituency Relations and Intervention Services in Abuja.  In the course of proceedings, Vice President Professor Yemi Osinbajo and Minister of Works, Housing and PowerBabatundeFashola delivered speeches expressing their opposition to the inclusion of constituency projects in the federal budget.

    Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. YakubuDogara, in his own speech countered the arguments against constituency projects drawing examples from different jurisdictions similar to Nigeria’s presidential democracy.

    Historically, prior to 1999 and indeed until 2003, the phenomenon of constituency project was alien to Nigeria’s budgeting system. However, with return to democracy in 1999 and the chronic failure of the executive to ensure even distribution of projects across the 36 states, 774 local governments and indeed all the electoral wards and the resultant disquiet from aggrieved Nigerians in the rural areas, lawmakers were left with no option but to begin the agitation for equitable allocation and distribution of federal projects nationwide.

    The Nation’s editorial mischievously tried to connote that the doctrine of separation of power as espoused by Montesquieu was being compromised as a result of legislators’ involvement in the execution of constituency projects. This is far from the truth because members of the National Assembly are neither given money nor awarded contracts to execute any constituency project.

    As Speaker Dogara stated, all that each member or Senator does is to identify the peculiar needs of his/her people, select location and type of the project and strive to ensure that it is implemented. All monies budgeted for constituency projects are domiciled in respective ministries, departments and agencies. It is the executive that award the contracts and execute them in the same manner as all other projects.

    Now, one major reason why lawmakers would always insist on having projects in the budget is that the executive hasn’t come clean on the issue of lopsided allocation of projects. The practice has consistently been that if the minister or permanent secretary or even directors in a given ministry or parastatal is from a particular part of the country, they would normally allocate a substantial percent of the projects or capital votes to their states or geo-political zones while leaving out the rest of the country to grapple with the remaining negligible percentage.

    Year-in-year-out, this has been both the practice and the norm. How do you expect a lawmaker to vote and approve an over 1000 page budget document running into trillions of Naira that has no single project for his constituents? What do you expect such a member or senator to tell their constituents?

    For the benefit of those who are either ignorant or doubtful, the philosophy of constituency projects is well embedded and encapsulated in the 1999 constitution in the federal character principle. More specifically, the constitution in section 14(3) states,  “The composition of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also to command national loyalty thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few States or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that government or in any of its agencies.” This also extends to allocation and implementation of budget and projects which is well covered by the provisions of section 16 (1): “The State shall…harness the resources of the nation and promote national prosperity and an efficient, dynamic and self-reliant economy and control the national economy in such manner as to secure the maximum welfare, freedom and happiness of every citizen on the basis of social justice and equality…..”.

    AsDogara noted, Lagos State stands out as the first state to enact the law legitimising constituency projects just one year into the Fourth Republic in 2000. In fact, other states soon emulated Lagos and to some extent the federal legislature.

    Fashola implemented constituency projects for members of the Lagos State House of Assembly for the eight years he was the governor. The Vice President was Attorney General of Lagos State also and at no point in time did any of them contend that the Lagos law is unconstitutional. As Senior Advocates, why didn’t any of them challenge the Lagos law in court? Are they saying constituency project is only good and constitutional for Lagos State only? What else might have informed their sudden change of perception?

    The capital budget as proposed by Fashola’s ministry was N334.3 billion out of which he allocated N89 billion to his home region while the North-east, the most devastated and neglected region got a paltry N10b. How can anyone justify this and then turn around to oppose a token allocation of say N30 million for rural projects in the federal constituencies including the ones in the geopolitical zone that was allocated N89 billion of the ministry’s capital budget? A minister takes N89b to his region and turns around to attack N100b meant for Constituencies nationwide. Sadly, this is what The Nation sought to defend in its editorial.

    The argument has always been that the job of lawmakers is to make laws and no more, even then it is usually conveniently disregarded, the fact that annual budget or appropriation is one of the most important laws by the legislature.  We should be reminded that making laws is just one function while there are other more critical aspects of the work of MPs. The job of a lawmaker also includes representation which entails protection of the interests of their constituents by ensuring that they get fair treatment from government including a fair share of the national budget.

    But for constituency projects, many rural communities would never have known about the existence of the federal government let alone benefitting from budgets. Thanks to the mechanism of the projects which ensures that every year projects such as solar powered bores, hand pumps, school infrastructure, dispensaries, skills acquisition centres, poverty alleviation, etc are implemented, however poorly the implementation . Infact, it is on record that over the years, the executive deliberately frustrates the implementation of constituency projects to the point that not up to 40 percent has ever been implemented in any given budget year. Already unfortunately, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation Babachir David Lawal, has stated that the government may not be able to implement constituency projects in the 2016 budget. May be he doesn’t know that the Appropriation Act is a law that must be implemented unless of course if it is amended which can only be done if the government fails to meet its revenue targets.

    Needless to say that it is the monumental failure of the executive of successive administrations to implement budgets and ensure national spread of projects through even and equitable allocation of capital votes that compelled lawmakers to insist that a meagre or paltry sum be allocated for projects in constituencies nationwide. It is strange for a top functionary of an APC government to oppose a policy aimed at fairness and transparency such as constituency projects. For the avoidance of doubt, skewed development is corruption and it’s propagation in an APC government will be puzzling paradox.

    The editorial also carefully but deliberately ignored the many examples mentioned by the Speaker as obtainable in other jurisdictions that practice presidential democracy like ours, notably, close home here, Kenya which has even set up a fund called the Constituency Development Fund and so many countries that have followed or are in the process of enacting similar laws.

    The 1999 Constitution is loosely modelled after the American Constitution with the same system of presidential democracy. Their system fully and duly recognises constituency projects which in the USA is called “Pork Barrels”. Congressmen and women always ensure that they get a piece of the pork barrel for their constituencies in every federal budget. The Speaker cited specific examples of pork barrels attracted by some members of congress including but not limited to the ones attracted by Paul Ryan the current speaker of US House of Representatives. If those pork barrels are not unconstitutional in the US, how are they unconstitutional under the Nigerian constitution which is patterned after the US constitution? We are not oblivious of the concept of adaptation but the object of adaptation has never been retrogression.

    .

    • Hon. Namdas is chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Media & Publicity.

  • ‘Lagosians to witness more developmental projects’

    The Conference of Executive Secretaries in Lagos State yesterday said there will be tremendous developmental projects under the Akinwunmi Ambode administration.

    Speaking with The Nation yesterday, the conference chairman, Mr Kolade Alabi, said Ambode’s achievements in just a year in office have shown that he is a performer.

    Ambode, he said, spent a better part of his career as a civil servant, noting that the governor on assumption of office, quickly restructured the civil service by merging and realigning some ministries, departments and agencies, to ensure efficiency.

    The initiative, he said, has saved the state billions of naira.

    Alabi hailed Ambode’s signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to kick-start the construction of the 38km Fourth Mainland Bridge, bringing a 14-year old dream to reality.

    He said the plan to transform Oshodi into a world class transport interchange in the next 13 to 16 months would go a long way to meet the Mega City status of the state.

    The $70 million project would also remove all notorious activities associated with the area, he said.

    According to him, the simultaneous construction of 114 expected to be completed next month in the 57 councils, is unprecedented in the history of any state in the country.

    Alabi said the commissioning of the 2.481km Ajasa-Command Road in Alimosho Local Government and Okota and Ago Palace Way roads, were part of Ambode’s pledge to make life more meaningful for the people.

    “On our part at the council level, we have complemented the governor’s gesture with various outstanding projects like building of schools, construction of inner roads, building and face-lifting of primary health care centres, provision of educational materials to schools, among others,” he said.

    The construction of roads, he said, was a clear demonstration of what Ambode’s administration stands for, urging people to protect public infrastructure in their communities.

    “These roads are been built with the resources from our common wealth; the tax payers money; it must therefore be protected jealously, to serve the communities and improve our quality of life and standard of living,” he said.

  • Osinbajo to inaugurate projects in Lagos

    Osinbajo to inaugurate projects in Lagos

    •State APC welcomes Vice-President

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo will inaugurate some projects undertaken by the Lagos State Government today on behalf of President Muhammadu Buhari.

    The President, who had been slated to make a two-day official visit today and tomorrow, will no longer make the trip.

    As at yesterday, the route the President would have taken had been decorated with banners.

    The presidential wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport was wearing a new look.

    The presidential visitwould have been the first since 2002, when President Olusegun Obasanjo visited.

    Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity Garba Shehu confirmed that the VP will stand in for the President.

    He said the President “has scheduling difficulties”.

    According to him, Osinbajo would inaugurate a few of the projects while the President will still visit the state after Ramadan.

    Some of the projects to be inaugurated include the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency Rescue Unit in Cappa, Oshodi; the newly constructed Ago Palace Way in Okota, Isolo and the inauguration of security equipment and vehicles donated by the Ambode administration.

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State has said the two-day working visit will provide a platform for the party leadership and Lagosians to engage and interact with the President.

    A statement yesterday in Lagos by its Publicity Secretary, Joe Igbokwe, said: “The historic visit will provide an opportunity for the President to get first class knowledge of the massive transformation going on in Lagos.

    “The President will inaugurate few projects, assess the Lagos security architecture, meet Corporate Lagos, and hopefully engage the efficient and dynamic Lagos civil service.

    “President Buhari will use the timely visit to the ‘land of aquatic splendor’ to explain the activities of the government in the last one year.

    “The President is expected to tell curious and anxious Lagosians what they may not know about the struggle to reclaim Nigeria and the man-made obstacles on the way of progress.”

  • Release of cash for projects begins today, says govt

    Release of cash for projects begins today, says govt

    • Minister explains budget plans

    • No VAT increase

    The Federal Government will begin the implementation of the 2016 budget today with the part disbursement of approved funds for some items in the budget.

    Minister of Budget and National Planning Senator Udoma Udo-Udoma who spoke yesterday in Abuja at the breakdown of the 2016 budget, said funding for some of the items in the budget will be released today.

    Udo-Udoma rated budget 2015 performance as poor, stating that “the capital spending was lower than budgeted due to funding challenges. In any case if all the funds allocated for capital projects was released, it would not have made a major impact because the percentage of the 2015 budget allocated to capital was only about 11per cent, this may partly explain why the performance of the economy in 2015 was so poor,” he stated.

    For 2016, Udoma said the budget is anchored on six pillars of economic reforms, infrastructure, social development, governance and security, environment as well as states/regional development.

    He said the key objectives of the budget are ensuring a stable macro-economic environment for real sector development; investments in critical infrastructure, science, technology and innovations that will enhance productivity and lower costs of doing business. Others are creating a significant number of jobs to reduce unemployment and underemployment especially among the youth; protecting the poor and vulnerable by special intervention programmes  and building an economy that is less vulnerable to oil price shocks by vigorously pursuing diversification.

    Budget 2016 he explained would rely on non-oil revenue for funding stressing that “the 2016 budget envisages a net distributable revenue of N5.72 trillion comprising of main federation account revenue of N4.303 trillion and N1.416 trillion from the Value Added Tax (VAT) pool account.”

    Of this revenue, Udoma said “net oil receipts amount to N1.48 trillion or 25 per cent while net non-oil receipts accounts for the balance of N4.22 trillion or 75 per cent.”

    The Federal Government budgeted revenue the minister said is projected at N3.855 trillion largely contributed by its internally generated revenue (IGR) of N1.51 trillion which is 35 per cent increase over the N2.855 trillion for 2015.

    The growth in the Federal Government revenue he said would be mainly derived from the growth in non-oil resources namely: Corporate Tax; VAT and dividend from government corporations and independent revenue. Government he said has projected that Corporate Tax will fetch it N1.88 trillion this year from N1.42trillion last year and VAT collection will fetch N1.48 trillion this year as against N1.28 trillion the previous year. Udoma was quick to explain that increase in projected VAT revenue will not be as result of an increase in the five per cent currently charged but by broadening the coverage so that there will be an aggressive drive to collect VAT from all those expected to pay rather than the rumoured increase from five per cent to ten percent.

    Highlights of major projects contained in the 2016 budget are:

    Road, bridge projects

    Over 40 projects spread across the geo-political zones, including:

    • N13billion for dualisation of Kano-Maiduguri road (Section I-V)
    • N8.7billion reconstruction and pavement strengthening of sections of Benin-Sagamu expressway
    • N14.2billion for the construction of Oju/Loko Oweto Bridge to link Loko and Oweto with approach Roads and Oshegbudu-Oweto road
    • N13 billion for concession of second Niger Bridge
    • N6billion for dualisation Odukpani-Itu-Ikot Ekpene road in Cross River and Akwa Ibom states.
    • N4.8 billionfor rehabilitation of Ilorin-Jebba-Mokwa-Bokani road
    • N8.8 billion for rehabilitation of Sokot-Tambuwal Kotangora-Makira road
    • N40 billion for Lagos-Ibadan expressway (Section I)
    • N2.8 billion for completion of Gombe-Numan –Yola road phase II
    • N5 billion for the rehabilitation of Apapa-Oshodi-Oworoshoki road
    • N2.6 billion for dualization of Kano-Katsina road phase I
    • N6 billion for dualisation of Ibadan-Ilorin section II
    • N5.5billion for rehabilation of Enugu-Onitsha road
    • N2billion for dualization of Sapele-Agbor-Ewu road (Section I)

    Power projects

    Several projects designed to optimise and deliver consistently 7,000Mw of power, highlights of which are:

    • N5.5 billion for construction of 215Mw Gas Power Plant
    • N1.2 billion for construction of 2X60MVA Connection of Gurara to National Grid
    • N235.7 million for coal to power development in Enugu, Benue, Gombe and Kogi
    • N303.9 million for the completion of ongoing construction of ITC/TDN and installation of injection and distribution substations
    • N305.3 million for completion of small scale renewable energy power plants development
    • N1.1 billion for the generation of 700Mw from Zungeru hydro power project
    • N324.2 million for completion of rural electrification scheme in 23 communities in Ondo
    • N250.7million for completion of ongoing electrification project in Kano state

     Railway projects

    Several projects with a view to building a national rail network to move goods/people across the country, among which are:

    • N8.5 billion for the completion of Itakpe-Ajaokuta-Warri 326Km Rail Track and structures
    • N18.3 billion for the completion of Abuja (Idu) – Kaduna 186.5Km Single Track Rail line
    • N60 billion counterpart funding for Lagos-Kano standard Guage Rail line
    • N60 billion counterpart funding for Calabar –Lagos Standard Guage rail line
    • N3.2 billion for provision of power, water, station building, fence, etc for rail lines

    Aviation projects

    Several projects designed to improve the security of our airports and airspace, including:

    • N432.5 million for procurement and illumination of Thales Navigational Aids at Kano, Jos, Minna, Maiduguri and Port Harcourt
    • N865 million for procurement and installation of Airfeild Lightening system at Port Harcourt, Knao, Lagos, Kaduna, Sokoto, Yobe, Akure
    • N1.06 billion for Airside rehabilitation of Nnamdi Azikwe Airport, Abuja
    • N497.5 million for construction of terminal building at Enugu airport
    • N2 billion for purchase of calibration aircraft and equipment
    • N870.4 million for procurement, illumination and flood lightening of 16 airports

    Water projects

    Several projects designed to improve water supply for agriculture, power, drinking and sanitation nationwide, highlights of which are:

    • N232.1 million for construction of Hadejia valley irrigation projects
    • N204.2 million for supply/installation of pressurised/centre pivot irrigation system nationwide
    • N232.13 million for rehabilitation of Adani irrigation project
    • N100 million for World Bank Assisted Urban water sector reform project
    • N200 million for AfDB assisted rural water supply/sanitation initiatives
    • N1.2 billion for construction of dam embankment, spillway, inlet and outlet structures at Jare Earth dam
    • N1.5 billion construction of dam embankment at Kashimbila Dam
    • N989.46 million for construction of dam embankment at Adada river dam
    • N1 billion for construction of dam embankment at Ile-Ife
    • N500 million for construction of dam embankment at Galma dam
    • N1 billion for construction of 200 solae mortorised boreholes nationwide

    Housing projects

    • N35.6 billion for construction of 1,973 blocks of 7,068 Housing units in 6 geo-political zones and FCT

    Agriculture projects

    Several projects in pursuit of the nation’s goal of self-sufficiency/food security, including:

    • N1.3 billion for construction of rehabilitation of rural roads
    • N1.3 billion for support to 187,500 farmers
    • N939.7 million for extension services
    • N940 million for development for strategic grazing reserves
    • N940 million for price stabilisation/buy-back/price guarantee scheme

     Education projects

    Several initiatives towards improving standards and access to education nationwide, including:

    • N342.1 million secondary schoold quality assurances programme across 6 geo-political zones
    • N817.1 milluon for statutory visitation and monitoring of 90 federal tertiary institutions
    • N2.1 billion for servicing ongoing and new local and foreign scholarships

    Health projects

    Several programmes/projects designed to significantly improve health indices across the nation, highlights of which are:

    • N12.6 billion for vaccines, devices and operations programmes for polio, measles, yellow fever etc
    • N1.3 billion conter-part contribution for porcuremnet and distribution of Antiretroviral drugs and contraceptive commodities

    Special intervention

    N500billion social intervention projects in five areas namely:

    • Job creation: 500,000 teachers and 100,000 artisans – N191.5 billion
    • School feeding: 5.5 million children for 200 school days – N93.1 billion
    • Conditional cash transfer: 5,000/month for 1 month beneficiaries – N68.7 billion
    • Enterprise programme: support for one million market women; 460,000 artisans and 200,000 agric workers – N140.3 billion
    • STEM Education Grant for 100,000 students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics – N5.8 billion, among others.

  • 47 transmission projects ‘near completion’

    The Federal Government is set to boost electricity supply with the completion of 47 transmission projects nationwide, Power, Works and Housing Minister, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, has said.

    Fashola, who fielded questions as guest on Channels Sunrise a Daily programme, said there was a plan to complete the projects in this year’s budget.

    The Minister, who was responding to questions on specific steps being taken to improve electricity supply, said: “There is a plan to complete 47 transmission projects in this year’s budget and I believe we can do it even if the budget is passed tomorrow.”

    He said in addition to those projects, government was also looking at other sources to achieve incremental power, adding that improving power is tied to the completion of the projects using a variety of sources including wind.

    Pointing out that incremental power would be achieved through a mix of power sources, the minister added: “In the last four weeks, we have approved a framework to start licensing about 14 solar power projects. Cumulative power from all is about 1,286megawatts (Mw). But they will be different companies, some have 100Mw and some have 250Mw and some have 50Mw. But all these are being processed to come on stream, because that is the real solution, to get more power on and, in the process, give relief. And so in that sense, I am optimistic that we will turn that corner”.

    Other areas the government is looking at, according to Fashola, is in revamping the only coal power station in the country, the Oji River Power Station, which he visited recently adding that the station has long fallen into dilapidation.

  • 2016 Budget: Ogbeh, others discover ‘strange’ 386 projects in Agric ministry’s votes

    2016 Budget: Ogbeh, others discover ‘strange’ 386 projects in Agric ministry’s votes

    The budget row is far from being over. Agriculture Minister Audu Ogbeh and his team have discovered 386 “strange” projects worth N12.6billion in the ministry’s proposals. They were reportedly inserted by the National Assembly.

    The projects were smuggled into the ministry’s plan after its N40.918 billion budget proposalý had been reduced to N31.618billion.

    There were strong indications last night that the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Sen. Udoma Udo Udoma might brief President Muhammadu Buhari today.

    It was also learnt yesterday that Secretary to the Government of the Federation Babachir David Lawal may today meet with ministers  over the impasse.

    Ogbeh and his team were shocked by the mutilation of the ministry’s budget, a source said.

    There were fears that the insertion of the strange projects might affect Buhari’s plans to diversify the economy.

    About three projects unconnected with the agriculture sector have been included in the ministry’s projects.

    These border on erosion control in Federal University, Kashere, Kwadon and Garin Alhaji at N200 million, N100 million and N45 million.

    A top source said: ‘’In the Agric sector,  386 projects were inserted, which totalled about N12.6 billion.

    ‘“While N5.3 billion of the main ministry’s budget is taken away, about N7.2 billion is infused into almost 40 agencies and parastatals of the agric ministry.”

    Other smuggled projects are provision of 58 boreholes for 29 rural communities and an additional 50 for 50 rural communities in the sum of N175 million and N150.4 million. “Curiously, the communities are not named”, the source said, adding:

    “Similarly, of the N90 million allocated to the Cocoa Research Institute in Ibadan, various sums are allotted the following ýof the seven sub-heads: provision of rubber seeds and seedling in Igbotako, Okitipupa, (N5m), training and empowerment of youths in poultry farming in Oluyole, Ibadan(N20m) and provision of cassava processing plant in Etsako East Local Government Area of Edo State(N10m)

    “Of the four sub-heads under the Rubber Research Institute, Benin, two areas are equally outside the focus of rubber. These are training and empowerment of youth and women in fish farming in Ndokwa, Delta State as well as fabrication and installation of cassava processing machines in Owan West Local Government Area of Edo State at N10m and N20m.

    “ Also, N1 billion was allocated to two projects in Kwara South Senatorial District, including the construction of rural roads for N700 million as well as empowerment of women and youths in agricultural products for N300 million.”

    A member of the House of Representatives Appropriation Committee said the 386 projects were injected without the knowledge of the committee’s ,members.

    ‘’We are happy that ýthe Speaker hinted that the issue of the budget will be revisited this week. But what some of us want is the understanding of Nigerians on this matter.

    ‘’The issue of this controversial budget has to be carefully done this time around because some persons who think they were smarter had already led the entire parliament into collisioný with the executive and indeed Nigerians.

    ‘’They have done this by inserting projects without the knowledge of others either in the appropriation or relevant sectoral committees and presenting same as the collective decision of the house or the entire parliament.

    ‘’To the best of my knowledge, as a member of both the appropriation and agriculture committees in the House of Representatives, I did know that we reduced the ministry’s N40.9 billion proposal by about N9.3 billion.

    ‘’But the surprise here is that while a decision was not taken where to infuse the reduced sum, some of us were surprised to see that so many projects were passed on to the President for assent, which he declined.

    ‘’The implication is that if the President did not insist on details, most National Assembly members would not have had the opportunity to know what went behind them.”

    There were strong indications yesterday that the Minister of Budget and National Planning might brief President Buhari today.

    A top source said: “I know that Udoma will meet with the President today as part of a debriefing session on the 2016 budget.

    “Also, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation,  may meet with ministers on Monday over the impasse.

    “All these consultations will guide the President on what he should do. The options are to return the budget to the National Assembly for a review of the details with a new timeline; withholding of assent; and to sign the budget into law with a Supplementary Budget later to fill in the gaps.”