The EFCC had proposed a budget of N21.03bn to fund its operations next year but the Budget Office approved N9.32bn, N11.7bn less than the commission’s request to meet capital, personnel and overhead expenditure items. Lamorde told the House committee that slashing the commission’s proposal would make the anti-corruption agency unable to pay its staff. A breakdown of the proposed budget shows capital expenditure amounting to N11.4bn; personnel cost, N6.5bn and overhead cost, N3.1bn.
The EFCC chairman said the agency’s proposal of N21.02bn as against the N9.3bn approved by the Budget Office left a shortfall of N11.7bn, which could frustrate the operations of the commission. He noted that “for 2013, the EFCC requested for N6.51bn for personnel cost and only N5.8bn was appropriated by the Budget Office, leaving a short fall of N710m.
“Due to this shortfall, the commission would not be able to meet its personnel cost fully in 2013.” Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Drugs, Narcotics and Financial Crimes, Hon. Adams Jagaba, in his reaction, lamented the poor funding of the EFCC . “It is even more saddening when funds have been appropriated for the agency in the budget of the federation by the National Assembly and the funds are not released.
“We are not happy because if truly we want EFCC to work, EFCC must be funded properly. “We cannot expect the EFCC to work with nothing. For instance, during the 2012 budget consideration, we discovered that nothing was proposed under Legal Services; the Committee then appropriated N200m for legal services, but the executive said no to that. “We are calling on those saddled with the release of budgeted funds to release the balance of your money under the 2012 budget.”
Meanwhile, members of the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream) yesterday engaged in a running battle with the Chairman of the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme, SUREP, Dr. Christopher Kolade, over claims that the N27bn set aside by the committee for youths empowerment and job creation would serve the purpose. Kolade insisted that the committee had designed enough programmes with the money to assist in job creation and youth empowerment.
The chairman of the committee, Senator Magnus Abe, said the nation had walked that path before and there was evidence that the programme would fail. Abe said: “I don’t think this your explanation will go anywhere. You collected N27bn and you say you are going to create 50,000 jobs.
I think you need to have a document that actually explains how the lives of those 50,000 will be transformed and how you are going to attain from point A to B. It is not something that you can do.” On his part, Kolade maintained that “No we have the documents, it is 5,000 people that we are paying N10,000 per month.”
Abe insisted: “We have done that before in this country like the issue of poverty alleviation, using N10bn.
If we want to help unemployment in Nigeria, we must design a programme that actually put something into the lives of the people that is sustainable and lasting. “To now share N10,000 to people, there is no guarantee as to which people will get it. I don’t think and see how that can help.”
These arguments took place yesterday during the 2013 budget defence by the SURE-P committee at the National Assembly. It was also revealed at the occasion that out of the 1,200 mass transit buses earmarked in the 2012 budget by the SURE-P committee, only 800 had been purchased so far.
The committee explained that it was not able to access the N15bn it budgeted for the programme, which was supposed to be domiciled with the Infrastructure Bank.
The committee was, however, unable to explain how it intended to recover the money from the beneficiaries.
Also the committee had issues with the Senate on the breakdown of the N2bn budgeted for the running of the committee’s secretariat. This was also as the committee could not explain satisfactorily to the senators how it spent N75m on local tours only for the four months of its existence.
In another development, journalists who gathered at the Senate Hearing Room 107 to cover the 2013 budget appropriation defence of the Ministry of Aviation were yesterday asked to leave by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Aviation, Hope Uzodinma, to allow the event to take place in secret.
All entreaties by some newsmen to educate Uzodinma on the dangers such precedence would create in the minds of Nigerians failed to dissuade the lawmaker from rescinding his walk-out order. Usually, occasions of budget defense provide opportunity for Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of government to showcase their performance before the parliament in the full glare of the media. Yesterday’s Ministry of Aviation budget defence, scheduled for 12p.m. did not commence until 30 minutes after.
Once the event commenced, Uzodinma delivered his welcome address where he explained the purpose of the gathering to be the “usual annual budget ritual,” “I welcome you all to this occasion of our usual annual budget ritual for the year 2013,” the chairman said. Continuing Uzodinma said, “Basically, what we came here to do today is to collectively review the performance of the 2012 budget and agree on how to make the next year’s 2013 budget perform better.”
Aviation Minister, Mrs. Stella Oduah, who spoke immediately after Uzodinma started with the review of the performance of the 2012 budget of her ministry. However, mid-way INTO her presentations the minister paused, coughed several times, while focusing her gaze on Uzodinma for some seconds.
When it was apparent that Uzodinma was not interpreting her signs promptly, the minister then asked, “Mr. Chairman, can I come and confer with you?” Once Uzodinma gave his approval, the minister immediately stood up, slowly she walked over to the chairman. The duo was locked in a tete-a-tete whispering for some minutes. Uzodinma thereafter turned to the newsmen and asked them to please excuse the committee.
“Gentlemen can you please excuse us, just members of the committee, the minister and heads of parastals under the ministry that should stay behind for a closed door meeting,” Uzodinma directed.
Following this appeal, the newsmen grudgingly left the venue. This was as some few reporters went to quietly register their protest before the chairman, who insisted that all the newsmen must excuse them.
As the last of the reporters left the hearing room, the door was locked and one of the security men was directed to man the door and not to allow anybody to enter the place. Whatever that transpired at the meeting was only left at the imagination of the reporters as there was no effort later to brief the press on the outcome of the parley.
Earlier in her presentation and review of the performance of the 2012 budget for her ministry, Oduah disclosed that the sum of N34bn was approved as capital budget for the year, out of which N19bn had been released so far. She said regarding recurrent expenditure her ministry and parastatals under her recorded an average 87 per cent performance.
The minister said her ministry has awarded a contract for the construction of the Bayelsa Airport. She also disclosed that the consultancy study report for the Abeokuta airstrip was almost ready and that before yearend, her ministry would be in receipt of the full report. In addition, Oduah said that the reconstruction of the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport has been completed by her ministry working in partnership with a Chinese construction firm.
Furthermore, the minister revealed that the reconstruction of the Akanu Ibiam Airport, Enugu and the Sam Mbakwe Airport, Owerri are both at advanced stages of completion.
National Mirror
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