N82bn mosquito nets budget: Senate rejects N23.4bn Mines & Steel dev’t budget
By Uthman Salami
The Senate has rejected N22billion budget presented by the Ministry of Mines and Steel following presentation of N82 billion budget for Mosquito nets by the Ministry of Health. The Senate also condemned the administration for being out of tune with the reality despite its proclaimed diversification agenda.
The Senate Committee on Solid Minerals, Mine, Steel Development and Metallurgy made this accusation on Monday.
The Committee further accused the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration of being clearly out of tune with realities on ground in the country.
They said that the federal government has shown by its “meagre budgetary allocation” to the sector was at a loss as to what it needs to properly diversify the country’s economy.
The Chairman of the Committee, who is also the former Nasarawa State governor, Tanko Al-Makura (APC Nasarawa South), chided the budget by the Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, insisting that “the yearly ritual called budget is garbage in, garbage out, which will not take the country to anywhere as far as required diversification is concerned.”
According to him, “The type of budgeting process being carried out in this country over the years is stereotypical one. It is wrong for the budget to be conceptualized in the ministry, enveloped and forward to the National Assembly for approval.”
On his part, the Kogi West Senator, Mr. Smart Adeyemi corroborated Al-Makura’s stand while speaking to journalists at the sideline of the committee’s interface with ministry officials that the N23.4billion 2022 budget estimates were “grossly inadequate and a clear indication that the federal government was not in tune with the realities on ground.”
Earlier, the Minister of State (Mines and Steel), Dr Uchechukwu Sampson Ogah while presenting the budget before the Committee of the Upper Chamber earlier, gave a breakdown of the figure.
He noted that out of the N23.4billion budget profile for the Ministry in 2022, N10billion is for personnel cost, N1.47billion for overhead cost and N11billion for capital Projects.
Senator Adeyemi queried “how on earth would a Minister propose N82billion for procurement of Mosquitoes net and a sector as important as the Solid Minerals, given N10 or N11billion?
“Ajaokuta Iron and Steel Complex that can give jobs to about 50,000 Nigerians is lying fallow in a country with an army of unemployed youths who can stage Revolution at any time.
“Nigeria is bleeding from this envelope form of budgeting riddled with repetition of line items and allocations on yearly basis.
“Government may be building infrastructure but building infrastructure is not as good as creating wealth through diversification of the economy.
“The best way of doing this is to remove whatever bottleneck is hindering continuation of work on Ajaokuta Steel complex and get it completed,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Minister in his response said envelope budgeting was not the creation of the ministry as it affects other government agencies.
He said, “My appeal to you distinguished Senators on the current model of budgeting is for the National Assembly to seek the attention of the President.
“Operating with an envelope as far as yearly budget is concerned, doesn’t make one think out of the box. It makes one looks stupid.
“We have the passion to drive the development of the country and transform into reality, the Vision of Mr President like other patriotic Nigerians in one public Office or the other,” he said.
He added that even with the envelope budgeting and lean resources, the Ministry has changed the narrative of low internally generated revenue to very appreciable figures now.
“In recent past, it used to be N2billion on yearly basis but has increased to N6.2billion now with a target of hitting N10billion by the end of the year,” he said.
