The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, David Babachir Lawal, on Wednesday, told National Assembly lawmakers that it will be hard for the President Buhari administration to implement capital projects in 2016.
SGF, Babachir Lawal
Speaking during his appearance before the Senate Joint Committees on Ethics, Appropriations and Finance on Wednesday at the National Assembly in Abuja, Babachir Lawal, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, said it would not be possible to fund the constituency projects of the lawmakers as contained in the 2016 Budget because of the paucity of funds.
Lawal said the revenue accruable to the country was not enough to accommodate the senator's constituency projects which are usually nominated by members of the National Assembly in which a total of N60 billion was already set aside for the projects in the current budget.
He lamented that from production of 2.2m barrels of crude oil per day, it has dropped to an all time low of 800,000 barrels per day, a development he said was affecting budget implementation.
This, according to him, would make it impossible for the government to fully implement the N6.06 trillion 2015 Budget.
“The statement is correct. That is my statement; we cannot guarantee the implementation of constituency projects in the 2016 budget.
“As a government, constituency projects are championed by members of the National Assembly. Like the legislature, members of the executive are politicians who canvassed for votes.
“Lawmakers are aware that oil barrels had dwindled to about 800,000 per day. This has led to the inability of government to finance the budget. It is the duty of government to prepare the minds of Nigerians ahead that there will be challenges in implementing the budget.
“Government based its principle on zero budgeting this year. Funds will be released to finance key projects in line with the implementation plans of the government. I will explain why it will be hard for the government to implement the budget.”
“I spoke with the Minister of Budget this morning and I asked him the revenue base of the government. We are now receiving about 50 to 60 earnings from what we projected. We have to re-prioritize.
“That statement may not be palatable to the legislature or the citizens. But MDAs are facing challenges in implementing the budget based on the funds available to them”, he added.
Lawal explained that some of the constituency projects like construction of mini stadia would not impact directly on Nigerians and that it was the reason the government designed zonal projects.
He blamed the drop in the nation’s revenue on the activities of militants in the oil-rich Niger Delta region. According to him, the oil benchmark proposed by the government had been drastically dislocated and grossly affected by activities of militants.
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