By Dipo Olowookere

Federal Government has rubbished claims by some commentators in the country that the 2018 appropriation bill contains suspicious items embedded in it.

According to the Ministry of Budget and National Planning, items in the budget were well conceived and provided for by the respective MDAs.

It was alleged that some line items and projects in the budget are suspicious, but a statement issued by Mr Akpandem James, Special Adviser on Media to the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Mr Udoma Udo Udoma, said such claims are not true.

He pointed to some of the items like N10 billion for settlement of liabilities to contractors; N22.6 billion for Research and Development; N308.42 billion for procurement of riot control equipment for police formations; N2.21 billion for Social Media Mining Suite by the Department of State Security Services and N338 million for computer software acquisition in the Federal Ministry of Finance, which were termed as suspicious by BudgIT, a civil society organization (CSO) active in the budget space, and said they are genuine provisions which have been explained by the relevant MDAs.

The statement said for instance, it is a common knowledge that the Federal Government owes many contractors for certified works dating back as far as 10 years. Thus, provisions are made in the annual budgets to offset some of these contractor liabilities.

A good portion of these debts, the Minister said, is domiciled in the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, and so the Ministry made a provision of N10 billion in the 2018 Budget Proposal for settlement of liabilities.

The statement said in the Government Integrated Finance & Management Information System (GIFMIS), Research and Development is a programme description that encapsulates various projects. In this case, a check of the budget of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade & Investment will show that this includes the N19.3 billion for the Export Expansion Grant (EEG).

For several years the EEG scheme was suspended on account of its dubious outcomes. However in its bid to incentivise non-oil exports, the FG reformed and reinstated the scheme with effect from 2017, the statement explained.

It noted that the budgetary provision for this scheme will therefore be recurrent, year after year. Indeed, as the non-oil sector picks up, the amount of provision is expected to increase.

On the issue of N308 million for procurement of riot control equipment for police formations and the Force Head Quarters, the Ministry explained that there are 37 State Police Commands (FCT inclusive) and the Force Headquarters. This amount is less than N10 million per state police HQ.

“Nigeria is yet to attain the UN ratio requirement of one police officer to 400 citizens of a country, thus this sort of provision is to help the already stretched force to keep up with the expectation of keeping law and order during protests or matches which are the basic tenets of the freedoms allowed in a democracy.

“It is acknowledged the world over that matters of national security are treated with some degree of confidentiality.

“The project code-name, ‘Cleaning and fumigation services’ was adopted by the office of the National Security Adviser based on the available drop-down menu on the Budget Preparation Subsystem of the GIFMIS.

“However, the office of the National Security Adviser during the budget bilateral discussion provided information on the specific items of expenditure covered by the code name,” it said.

On the N2.21 billion for Social Media Mining suite by the Department of State Security Services (DSS), the Ministry explained that the agency plans to implement some security protocols to curtail spread of information capable of threatening national security.

This is it said by no means to hinder freedom of speech or expression as these will not be tampered with in as much as it is within the ambit of the law.

It explained that the N338 million in the budget for computer software acquisition in the Federal Ministry of Finance is basically to fund some ICT solutions/initiatives for improving financial management within the Federal Ministry of Finance.

For the N4.9 billion for annual maintenance of mechanical/electrical equipment in the Villa, the Minister said it must be noted that the Villa is quite an expansive complex comprising several offices, residences and other relevant support facilities.

“This provision is made to ensure that the equipment is maintained in top form at all times, and for several of these there are standard maintenance contracts,” he said.

The Ministry therefore explained that there is nothing suspicious about any of the provisions in the 2018 budget.

“It is however not unusual for some items in the Budget to require further clarifications or explanations.

That is why the Ministry made provision for a Citizens’ Portal on the website of the Budget Office for interaction and feedback purposes.

“Commentators are therefore advised to make use of the facility for clarifications on budget matters,” the statement said.