FG to Spend N121bn on North-East
Despite its trumpeted commitment to the reconstruction of the Boko Haramravaged NorthEast, the federal government is planning to spend less than nine per cent of its N7.3 trillion annual budget on capital projects in the region, Daily Trust on Sunday investigations have shown.
Analysis of the 2017 proposed federal budget shows that about N121.2 billion ($397.4million), representing 8.8 per cent, would be spent on developmental projects by the federal government across the six states of the North-East.
The figures are about 10.8 per cent of the N268 billion federal government’s total expenditure for road projects across the country.
The Federal Ministry of Transport is not executing a single project in the North-East even though it has over N200b budgeted for capital votes. This is happening despite the central government’s publicised commitment to the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the region destroyed by the Boko Haram insurgency.
The central government’s budget for the year is N7.29 trillion. N2.24 trillion is for capital votes while the recurrent expenditure will gulp N2.98 trillion. Other components of the federal government budget are statutory transfers (N414 billion) and debt service (N1.66 trillion).
On the other hand, the combined expenditure of Borno, Adamawa, Yobe, Bauchi, Gombe and Taraba - the six states that make up the North-East for the year - is too inadequate to make any impact. The six states’ total budget is N698.1b, with capital expenditure consuming N349.2 b, leaving N254.6 b for recurrent. Humanitarian crisis Government officials and humanitarian organisations have estimated that the six-year-old militancy has led to infrastructural destruction worth N2.9 trillion ($9.6 billion).
About 8.5 million people out of the 14 million affected by the insurgency are in dire need of immediate relief, the state minister for budget and national planning, Hajiya Zainab Ahmed, said recently during a visit to Daily Trust headquarters in Abuja. The minister said this figure was bigger than the number of people affected by the crisis in Syria, but it has not gotten the same measure of response internationally.
Some days ago, the governor of Borno State and chairman of the Northern Governors’ Forum, Kashim Shettima, told federal lawmakers that the destruction in the North-East was worth $9.6 billion.
“In the North-East alone, destructions worth $9.6b were inflicted on us, from Borno to Adamawa, Yobe, Gombe, Taraba and Bauchi,” the governor whose state is the epicentre of the crisis said. He explained that Borno State suffered destructions worth $6.7billion. Out of this, 956,453 units of houses making 30 per cent of the total number of houses in Borno were destroyed. Also, 5,335 classrooms in 501 primary schools and 38 secondary schools and two tertiary institutions of learning were destroyed. He said 201 primary health care centres and hospitals were destroyed. About 650 municipal buildings, including police stations and government structures were destroyed, according to the governor.
In Yobe, which is the second worst hit state by the insurgency, 1,098 public buildings and facilities were destroyed across 11 local government areas in the state, according to official data. The destroyed facilities include 609 classrooms, 83 clinics, hospitals, health centres, 219 water facilities, 45 courts, police stations, barracks, 19 electricity installations and fertiliser plants and 123 offices, residential buildings and shops.
Yobe State governor’s spokesperson, Abdullahi Bego, said N7.42 billion worth of private property was also destroyed during the insurgency in the state. They include 43,209 rooms of various types, 5,162 assorted vehicles, 109,267 livestock, and 24,315 individuals. Lean votes for North-East The federal government has budgeted N268 billion for the construction and repairs of 171 roads across the federation this year. Out of this, about 52.5 per cent of the projects are to be executed in the South-West and South-East geo-political zones.
Of the N268 billion budgeted for the construction of roads and bridges across the federation, the South-South and South-West region will get N138 billion (51.5 per cent).
The Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing proposed N434.3billion capital allocation for 2017. On the other hand, the ministry is spending only N29 billion for construction and rehabilitation of 27 roads across the six states of the North-East region, according to budget figures analysed by Daily Trust on Sunday.
These monies were captured across various ministries and agencies that included power, works and housing, water resources, agriculture, education, special interventions, among others. Developmental projects earmarked for the year included construction of roads and bridges, dams, as well as the rehabilitation of dams, irrigation projects, power plants development and electricity supply, education, agriculture, among others. Zonal breakdown Further analysis of the budget for roads construction shows that South-South got the biggest vote of N74 billion to execute 30 projects. It was followed by the SouthWest, which got N64 billion for 26
road projects. The ministry will be spending N36.3 billion in the South-East for the execution of 23 road projects.
Forty-three road projects will be executed in the North-Central zone at the cost of N47 billion. The North-East zone was allocated only N29 billion for 27 road projects this year. The North-West has the least allocation of N15.6 billion earmarked for 21 projects this year. The biggest project in the North-East will be the dualisation of the Kano-Maiduguri road, which got the highest allocation of N14 billion. Comparatively, a single project in the South-West the expansion of Lagos-ShagamuIbadan road, to be executed at the cost of N31.5 billion, is higher than the combined road projects to be executed in the North-East region. Northeast projects The federal government has allocated N45 billion for the reconstruction of the Northeast zone, under the North-East Intervention Fund.
Under agriculture and Rural Development Ministry, N500 million was earmarked for the construction of Wukari-Ibi rural road in Taraba State. Out of the N50 billion earmarked for Special Economic Zone projects, to be set up in each of the geo-political zone to drive manufacturing/exports, the North-East will get N8.3 billion. Under capital spending in the Ministry of Education, 15 unity schools in the region will get N721 million out of the N5 billion earmarked for the provision of security infrastructure in 104 federal colleges. The six federal universities in the zone are scheduled to benefit from the N20bn rural electrification projects to be executed in federal universities in the country.
Nigeria’s biggest hydropower plant in Mambilla, Taraba State, with 3,050 megawatt capacity, was allocated N18.7 billion. The federal government has budgeted N7.12 billion for the completion of power evacuation facility for the 400 megawatt Kashimbila hydropower plant. The federal government is planning to spend N2.9 billion on irrigation projects across the North-East. Also, the Federal Ministry of Water Resources has budgeted N5billion for the construction of dams in the region. National intervention funds The federal government has earmarked hundreds of billions for social intervention funds, with beneficiaries drawn from across the federation. One of such programmes is the N500 billion for Federal Special Intervention Programme (including the Home Grown School Feeding Programme, Government Economic Empowerment Programme, N-Power Job Creation Programme, Conditional Cash Transfers and Social Housing Fund).
The six states from the NorthEast are also beneficiaries of these funds, which include N20 billion for SDGs conditional grants and social safety nets.
The federal government has also earmarked N41 billion for its National Housing Programme, which also covers the North-East. There was also another N100 billion provision for a new Social Housing Programme towards a N1 trillion fund. Roads projects in the region The road projects listed for construction and repairs in the 2017 budget in the Northeast include: Rehabilitation of Hadejia-Nguru-GashuaBayamari road in Jigawa and Yobe states (N2.3bn); construction of bridges destroyed as a result of insurgency (N1.6bn); construction of Sumaila-FalaliBirnin Bako-Bauchi State border road (N1.5bn); rehabilitation of Potiskum-Udubo-GamawaGamayin road section ii (UduboGamawa-Gamayin) in Bauchi State (N650m); rehabilitation of Yola -Mubi road in Adamawa State (N500m); rehabilitation of Cham-Numan section of Gombe-Yola road in Adamawa State (N500m); construction of Damasak-Dutse (Nigeria)-Diffa (Niger Republic) road in Borno State (N600m); rehabilitation of street lights on Numan bridge, Yola, Adamawa (N100m); bridge at km 91+000 along GombiMaaraba-Michika-Madagali, Borno State border) road (reconstruction of 91m long bridge consisting of 7 no. spans of 13m ) (N669m); rehabilitation of street lights on Bauchi - Gombe road, Gombe end (N80m); construction of Donga-Shutari road, Taraba South, Taraba State (N200m); construction of Ibi bridge in Taraba State (N900m); construction of Damasak-Dutse (Nigeria)-Diffa (Niger Republic) road in Borno State (N600m); construction of bridges destroyed as a result of insurgency (N1.6bn); rehabilitation of Bauchi-DassTafawa Balewa in Bauchi State (N150m); Potiskum - Udubo Gamawa - Gamayin road (r333) section i (Potiskum - Udubo road) in Yobe State (N174m); bridge at km 131.55 near Gamboru along Maiduguri-Dikwa-Gamboru road in Borno State (restoration of blown up 2 spans of 30m length of the bridge) (N383m); Katarko bridge at km 20 along Damaturu -Biu road in Yobe State (restoration of damaged mid spans of the 80m - long bridge) (N267m); rehabilitation of Maiduguri-Dikwa-Gamboru road section ii: Dikwa-Gamboru in Borno state - (N700m); Kudzum bridge at km 87 + 000 along Gombi-Mararaba MubiGwoza road in Adamawa State (restoration of damaged spans of the bridge) (N267m); bridge at km 45+000 along GombiMaaraba-Michika-Madagali (Borno State border) road (construction of new bridge as replacement for substandard box culvert) (N255m); replacement of bailey/sub-standard bridges in North-East zone (N450m); Lere-Bauchi-Gindiri PlateauMangu Plateau road (N200m); rehabilitation of street lights on Damaturu-Gombe road in Yobe State (N60m); rehabilitation of Wukari-Mutum biyu -JalingoNuman road section i: Wukari - Mutum biyu road in Taraba State (N650m); rehabilitation of Hadeijia-Nguru-GashuaBayamari road in Jigawa and Yobe states (N2.3bn); rehabilitation of Damaturu-Biu road in Yobe/Borno states (N500m); rehabilitation of MaiduguriBama-Gwoza-Mubi-Hong road sections i & ii with spur to Banki in Borno State (N1bn). Ministry of Water Resources Construction of water supply scheme in Gwaranga, Bogoro (N670m); construction of Dam Embankment at Kashimbilla Dam (N1bn); contribution to Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) (N1. 03bn); special intervention for the North-East and IDPs (at least 200 water points using cost estimate by BPP) (N922m); construction of water scheme in Tafawa Balewa (N793m) and construction of Jada Multi-purpose Dam (N500m).