By Cecilia Ijuo
Abuja – Mr Jalal Arabi, Permanent Secretary, Presidential Villa, Abuja, has said that the management of the State House would prioritise its projects within available resources.
He made the statement on Thursday in Abuja while defending the 2017 budget proposal of the villa before the Senate Committee on Federal Character and Inter-Governmental Affairs.
He said that the budget would among other things, be used to complete projects that were started in 2016.
Arabi said: “appreciative of dwindling government revenues, there is 18 per cent reduction in the 2016 appropriation of N16.6 billion to N13.6 billion in 2017 budget proposal.
“The 2017 budget proposal seeks to consolidate on the performance of the 2016 appropriation.
“It is aimed principally at completing ongoing projects captured in the 2016 appropriation which could not be completed due to paucity and irregular release of funds.
“For instance, out of the N2.8 billion appropriated for the State House Medical Centre, only N866.6 million or 31 per cent was actually released.’’
He said that contrary to public perception that the state house was wasteful, it had been consistent and conservative in its budget estimates.
The Permanent Secretary reiterated that the management was mindful of the challenges faced by the country in the area of revenue generation over the years.
“The state house is focusing on improvement of its basic training programmes in line with the Federal Government policy.
“This is aimed at increasing our research base to improve efficiency in service delivery,’’ he said.
Arabi expressed appreciation to the National Assembly for its continued support.
He pledged that the management of the state house would continue to carry out its operations in line with international best practices.
He added that this would be done by providing efficient and qualitative services.