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| Speaker House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara |
It noted that the money would pale into insignificance when compared with the fact that outstanding liabilities to contractors on jobs already delivered stood at “over N300bn.”
The committee stated that while the N200bn in the 2016 budget was an improvement over the N18bn budgeted in 2015, the outstanding liabilities in excess of the budget size also meant that the Federal Government must urgently consider alternative sources of funds to deliver road projects.
The Chairman of the committee, Mr. Toby Okechukwu, who spoke exclusively with The PUNCH, said at the moment, the government’s total commitment to road contracts was “a staggering N2.2tn, about the size of the recurrent budget in this year’s N6.06tn budget.”
Okechukwu added, “Yes, there is over N200bn in the budget. It means that contractors can continue to work if they reach some understanding with the government in a bid to cover some mileage in road works.
“But of more importance is that we must urgently seek alternative funding sources away from the annual ritual of statutory funding through the budget.
“The Public Private Partnership is an option. Some discussions and ideas have to be generated on how to seek additional funds outside the budget.
“When you realise that the total commitment to the road sector is N2.2tn, and you already have liabilities in excess of N300bn, then it will mean that the N200bn is going into work that has been done.
“There has to be a way to increase funding; the annual budget ritual cannot address the funding gap.”
President Muhammadu Buhari had signed the 2016 Appropriation Bill into law last Friday.
The President said with the signing of the budget, N350bn would be injected into the nation’s economy immediately to stimulate growth.
He also stated that the development of infrastructure, particularly roads, would be boosted with the N200bn earmarked to the sector in the budget.
Buhari added, “To illustrate our renewed commitment to infrastructural development, the 2016 budget allocates over N200bn to road construction as against a paltry N18bn allocated for same purpose in the 2015 budget.”
On his part, the Leader of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila, told The PUNCH that there was hope the government would achieve higher budget implementation percentage than its predecessors.
According to Gbajabiamila, there is the “political will” in the current government to implement projects.
“I believe with the kind of political will this President and government has shown, this budget will see the highest percentage and level of implementation seen in recent years,” he said.
Punch
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