Three years
after federal government investigative reports confirmed that more than 20,000
federal projects have been abandoned, the federal government said September 15
2013 it had set up of a task force to halt the rogue fleecing of the nation.
If the
executive arm of government under former President Goodluck Jonathan was guilty
of gross inaction and insensibility, the legislative arm too had demonstrated
no serious commitment in checking the waste of government funds in the
abandoned projects that litter the constituencies they supposedly represent.
However, much is expected from the Muhammadu Buhari administration in examining
the legion of abandoned projects and making the fleecing contractors and rogue
bureaucracy to give account.
For instance,
two years after, the National Assembly is yet to pass the bill mooted to check
unbridled wastage and corruption in abandoned projects; mum is the word from
the National Assembly, as if they were unconcerned that the welfare of their
constituencies means nothing to them so far their pecuniary appetites are
lustfully satisfied.
Former Head of
Service of the federation Mr. Danladi Kifasi said in Abuja before directors in
the service that government was worried by the waste from abandoned projects by
federal ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).
He said
government had resolved to set up a project performance and monitoring taskforce
to punish contractors who collect mobilization funds and disappear. However,
this cannot be unless the odious image of the Civil Service is redeemed in
order to restore public confidence and reverse nation that “government business
was nobody’s business”. To what extend
Kifasi can clean the Service rot, which has become a cankerworm?
Indeed, the
abandoned projects by Federal Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDA) had
climbed from 11,886 three years ago to 20,000, going by figures supplied by the
former Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy Mrs. Ngozi
Okonjo-Iweala.
Former Speaker
House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal had mooted in July last year a
bill to compel MDAs to implement national budgets in order to halt disturbing
trend of failed and abandoned projects. His words, “It is time we changed from the
so-called cash-based budgeting system to performance-based budgeting….We hope
that all arms of government, especially the Legislature and the Executive will
learn to build the kind of synergy that will encourage budget implementation
and reduce poverty in the land.”
In addition,
Tambuwal noted, “The Presidential Projects Assessment Committee (two years ago)
estimated that over 11,886 projects valued at N7.7 trillion were abandoned
after government had spent N2.2 trillion on them, and N9 trillion is required
to complete the abandoned projects. This is unsupportable wastages. I advocate
performance budgeting.”
Indeed, when
similar unaudited abandoned projects by the 36 states and 774 local governments
are added, the figure would be astounding. Many National Assembly members
fleece through bogus and unaccounted constituency project votes. The
legislative –executive feud over N80 billion constituency projects has bogged
down implementation of the 2013 Appropriation Act.
This unchecked
fiscal indiscipline, Okonjo-Iweala had regretted has allowed the country’s debt
profile to climb to $37 billion, almost to the position before the expensive
bailout during the Obasanjo administration. Despite executive agencies and the
Presidency failing to check rein in fiscal indiscipline, the Finance Minister
is strangely advocating the collection of more foreign loans when previous
loans have remained unaccounted for and projects not seen to benefit the
people.
The Fiscal
Responsibility Act (FRA) was enacted in July 2007. Unknown is the impact of the
Fiscal Responsibility Commission set up to manage prudently the nation’s
resources, ensure long-term macroeconomic stability, secure greater
accountability and transparency in fiscal operations . Bureau of Public
Procurement, established to check these frauds, has been ineffective.
The NASS that
should perform oversight function on the executive has largely slept on its
duty. This is why in the past 14 years federal recurrent expenditures is about
75 per cent to service a few thousands of public office holders while a miserly
25 per cent takes care of the rest 160m million people.
During a tour
of abandoned projects two years ago former Minister of Information Labaran Maku
had fingered that the desire for ego credit taking, rather than service
delivery, was behind the drive for new projects and abandoning of old ones. The
embarrassing trend might stall new projects in 2014 and 2015.
The abandoned
projects include power projects, for which billions of dollars have been committed
with no production of electricity, road, rail, and water transportation
infrastructure to jumpstart the economy and provide job opportunities,
education, and health institutions provisioning, infrastructure to provide
domestic self-sufficiency in food and fuel.
Other factors
are pitiable planning, inadequate budgeting, delay in releasing project funds,
which leads to project execution delay, increased contract cost variation and
ultimate abandonment and contract splitting to give jobs for the boys. President
Goodluck Jonathan cannot affect positively on peoples welfare without urgently
curbing corruption by officials using fraudulent ploys: upfront payments for
contracts prior to execution, white-elephant money-laundering projects proposed
principally to pull out money from the treasury.
Exposing
contractors that have collected money for jobs not done and bringing them to
trial will effectively check the culture of impunity in abandoned projects. The
abandoned projects badly affect peoples’ welfare countrywide. There is urgent
need for the Buhari administration to revisit the abandoned projects scandals
for the sake of accountability, probity to discourage looting spree with
impunity.
