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 manipulated 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.
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