2016: FG cuts INEC, NASS, amnesty budgets by N65bn
Ifeanyi Onuba
The Federal Government is proposing a
total reduction of about N65.28bn in the budgetary allocation of the
Independent National Electoral Commission, the National Assembly and the
Presidential Amnesty Programme, investigations have revealed.
The reduction, it was gathered, is part of measures to reduce the cost of governance in the 2016 fiscal year.
Details of the cut already captured in
the Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper for
2016-2018 would be unveiled on Tuesday when President Muhammadu Buhari
is expected to lay the 2016 budget before the National Assembly.
In the MTEF obtained by our
correspondent in Abuja, the Federal Government is proposing a reduction
of N17bn in the budgetary allocation to INEC from N62bn approved in the
2015 fiscal year to N45bn.
The N17bn reduction in the allocation of
the commission is a decline of 26.1 per cent when compared to what it
got in the 2015 year.
Findings revealed that as of September
this year, only N31bn out of INEC’s 2015 budgetary allocation of N62bn
had been released to the commission.
For the National Assembly, the Federal
Government according to the fiscal strategy document, is proposing a cut
of N5bn or 4.2 per cent from N120bn in 2015 to N115bn in 2016.
It was also learnt that as at the end of
September, the Federal Government out of the approved N120bn for this
year had released the sum of N74.66bn to the lawmakers.
For the Presidential Amnesty Programme,
the Federal Government is also proposing a reduction of N43.28bn or
68.39 per cent in budgetary allocation for the programme from the 2015
amount of N63.28bn to N20bn.
Out of the 2015 approved allocation of
N63.28bn, the total amount released from the Federal Government for
implementation of the programme as of September 30 was N47.39bn.
Other agencies whose 2016 budgetary
allocation were slashed included the National Judicial Council from
N73bn in 2015 to N70bn; Public Complaints Commission from N4bn to N2bn
and the Human Rights Commission from N1.52bn to N1.2bn.
The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi
Adeosun, had shortly after assumption of office in November inaugurated
Efficiency Unit to assist the government in reducing the cost of
governance.
Adeosun lamented that while much had
been said about effects of corruption on the economy, little attention
was given to the damaging effects of inefficiency and wastages.
She said, “In the few weeks I have spent
as the Minister of Finance, it has become clear that without a radical
intervention to manage the costs of government, no meaningful
improvement in our nation will be forthcoming.’’
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