ABUJA (Sundiata Post) – Senators on Tuesday lamented the inability of the Federal Government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to access funds that are meant for capital expenditure.
This followed revelations by the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Alhaji Musa Mohammed Sada, that releases made to the Ministry were inadequate.
Sada, who spoke during the 2015 Budget defence before the Senate Committee on Power, Mines & Steel and Metallurgy, hinted that his ministry was only allocated the sum of N250 million in the 2015 budget proposal.
Speaking on the development, Senator Victor Lar said that Nigerians must change the way things are done in the country.
“A situation where we consider a budget, have it approved then somebody sits in an office, and refuses to make releases. On the basis of that, ministers and other agencies and their officials are made to award contracts, (and) at the end of the day releases are not made. Somebody declares that there is surplus, and you tell me that there is an economy that is growing?
“It is simple (lack of planning), and this is frustrating. And this cannot go on. Look at the presentation by the Minister of Steel, for example, Mr. Chairman. We have an opportunity where we can raise the revenue profile of the Ministry from a non-oil sector; and we would have done serious planning for growth.
“We will encourage that sector and ensure that everything the Ministry requires is provided to ensure that this thing takes off. And then the Ministry is subjected to the same envelop system is subjected to the same non-releases and all that.
“Please we must change the way we do things because, if you have a problem and you have an approach that has not yielded the desired result, it is only commonsensical that we change our approach to it. We keep doing the same thing and we expect to get a better result. It will not work; please it will not. I appreciate the efforts being put up by the officials. But again, Mr. Chairman, it is for us to go beyond this and ask the questions. If the Minister comes here and says non-release, then we take it as if it is part of our tradition to have a budget approved and then releases are not made, and we take it as if it is part of the process. This is not acceptable,” Lar said.
Also speaking on the same issue, Senator Chris Ngige, who observed that the price of oil has fallen, said that the chicken has come home to roost.
“Minister of Steel, you said that you have been discussing with the Ministry of Finance, we will be interested in what (happened). We want to know what you told them and what they told you because oil has fallen, that’s the truth of the matter. So, if you go there and they have nothing to give you, what did you give them? What did you show them that will give us money or give your ministry money.
“Because just as my colleague lamented, I am really frustrated that I am participating in this ritual for the last four years. I am really frustrated because I can’t even see any light at the end of the tunnel or even at the beginning of the tunnel. Must we continue this way? The answer is no. We will lose this country, if we continue this way,” Ngige said.
In his contribution, Senator Nurudeen Usman noted that the steel sector is the hen that lays the golden eggs.
During his presentation, Sada hinted that his ministry was only allocated the sum of N250 million for capital expenditure in the 2015 Budget