- MDAs repeat items already executed
Despite assurances by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration that it would no longer tolerate budget padding, strong indications have emerged that the 2017 budget proposals currently being debated by the National Assembly might have been inflated by ministries, departments and agencies of government.
A document obtained by The Point revealed that the level of padding in the 2017 budget may be much higher than what was discovered in that of last year.
Already, heads of the MDAs have commenced the defence of their projections before the various committees of the National Assembly.
According to the document, prepared by a non-governmental organisation, BudgIT, many MDAs allegedly inflated their proposals in all the line items, allocating huge sums of money to frivolous and suspicious projects.
According to the 39-page document, the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation proposed N22.2 million for electricity charges, a figure it says represents 75.9 per cent increase over that of 2016.
The same office, the document indicated,wants N222,602,652 and N120,304,830, respectively, for local and international travels. These represent 61.5 and 5.9 per cent increase respectively over those of last year.
For the Code of Conduct Bureau, despite having only one court room, BudgIT claimed the body asked for N500 million for the digitalisation and automation of its operations. The amount, it alleged, is in addition to the N11.4 million and N22 million it penciled down for the operation of two departments and the operation of its six zonal offices, respectively.
The Council for Legal Education is proposing N12,480,000 for cleaning and fumigation of its offices. According to the document, the amount is indefensible.
In the same vein, the document faulted the sum of N295 million being proposed by the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development for Information Technology automation and web maintenance.
The Ministry of Justice, on its part, has budgeted N101,658,614 for the purchase of office stationery and computer consumables. But BudgIT alleged that an exact allocation was made for the same purpose in the 2016 budget.
The Federal Ministry of Water Resources, in the 2017 budget, has earmarked N350,314,000 for budget preparation, coordination and quarterly production of budget reports.
The Federal Fire Service, an agency under the Federal Ministry of Interior, is budgeting N3,898,966,196 for the purchase of firefighting equipment. The same figure was budgeted for the same purpose in the 2016 budget, the NGO alleged.
The Presidential Villa is budgeting N319,625,753 for the payment of electricity charges. According to the document, this is an increase of over 600 per cent in one year. About N76,400,004 is being budgeted for water rates.
