2018 Budget: Buhari raises alarm over NASS insertion of LG, States project as constituency project

President Muhammadu Buhari has raised alarm over the insertion of Local and State Government projects made by National Assembly postured as constituency projects, saying that the projects may be difficult, if not impossible, to implement with the reduced allocation.

The President expressed the shock while signing the 9.12 trillion 2018 budget on Wednesday, explaining that many of these new projects introduced by NASS have been added to the budgets of most MDAs with no consideration for institutional capacity to execute them or the incremental recurrent expenditure that may be required.

Buhari said that some of these projects relate to matters that are the responsibility of the States and Local Governments, and for which the Federal Government should therefore not be unduly burdened.

Few of the projects however include:

a. The provisions for some nationally/regionally strategic infrastructure projects such as Counter-part funding for the Mambilla Power Plant, Second Niger Bridge/ancillary roads, the East-West Road, Bonny-Bodo Road, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and Itakpe-Ajaokuta Rail Project were cut by an aggregate of 11.5 billion Naira.

b.    Similarly, provisions for some ongoing critical infrastructure projects in the FCT, Abuja, especially major arterial roads and the mass transit rail project, were cut by a total of 7.5 billion Naira.

c.     The provision for Rehabilitation and Additional Security Measures for the United Nations Building by the FCT, Abuja was cut by 3.9 billion Naira from 4 billion Naira to 100 million Naira; this will make it impossible for the Federal Government of Nigeria to fulfill its commitment to the United Nations on this project.

d.    The provisions for various Strategic Interventions in the health sector such as the upgrade of some tertiary health institutions, transport and storage of vaccines through the cold chain supply system, provision of anti-retroviral drugs for persons on treatment, establishment of chemotherapy centres and procurement of dialysis consumables were cut by an aggregate amount of 7.45 billion Naira.

e.    The provision for security infrastructure in the 104 Unity Schools across the country were cut by 3 billion Naira at a time when securing our students against acts of terrorism ought to be a major concern of government.

Buhari also expressed concern at the increase made by the NASS for the provisions for Statutory Transfers by an aggregate of 73.96 billion Naira, saying “most of these increases are for recurrent expenditure at a time we are trying to keep down the cost of governance.”

He said “An example of this increase is the budget of the National Assembly itself which has increased by 14.5 billion Naira, from 125 billion Naira to 139.5 billion Naira without any discussion with the Executive.”

Buhari stated that notwithstanding the above stated observations, he has decided to sign the 2018 Budget in order not to further slowdown the pace of recovery of the economy, which has doubtlessly been affected by the delay in passing the budget.