The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, has submitted a proposed statutory extra budget of N61,553,778,259 billion for the FCT to the relevant committees in the National Assembly.
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) revealed Wednesday during his presentation before committees of the Senate and House of Representatives in Abuja that the supplementary budget would allow the FCT to receive more funds in order to finish the administration’s most important projects and programs.
The minister elaborated that the supplementary funds come from a variety of sources, including the Paris Club Refund of N25.8 billion, PAYE Tax liabilities of N28.6 billion from federal agencies, special intervention funds (palliatives) of N5 billion from the federal government, IGR of 9.4 billion from internally generated sources, and an infrastructure support fund of N5 billion.
Capital expenditures amount to 48.6 billion of the N61.55 billion budgeted amount, while overhead costs account for 12.9 billion.
The supplementary budget will be used for a variety of capital projects. These include resurfacing existing roads and remedial works phases I and II, completing roads B6, B12, and Circle Road in the Abuja Central Area, developing artistic road N20 from Northern Parkway to Outer Northern Expressway (ONEX), and building southern parkway from Christian Centre (S8/9) to Ring Road I (RRI).
On the other hand, there are a number of other projects in the works, such as the Wuye District Engineering Infrastructure, the Kabusa Garden Estate Access Road, the National Mosque and National Christian Centre Rehabilitation, the Vice President’s residence Design and Construction, and mass transit buses (both new and used).
Almost all of the contractors employed by the previous FCT Administration had already departed from the sites of the projects before the present FCT Administration took office, as the minister similarly revealed, because the FCTA had failed to pay its contractual commitments.
The FCT Administration needs the National Assembly’s approval through appropriation, he said, so they can use the money to send contractors back to their jobs. He also said that some of the projects already underway will have the allocated funds attached to them so they can finish by May of next year.
He said that the FCT Administration is devoted to finishing the projects by May 2024, in time for the president to celebrate a year in office, and that they are part of the presidential deliverables.
In addition, the FCT Minister revealed that a significant portion of the additional budget will be used to pay for widespread newspaper ads that will hopefully raise enough awareness to prompt the payment of ground rent and the possible recertification of Certificates of Occupancy.
According to the Minister, these measures will mitigate fraud, strengthen the security of FCT land title papers, and increase the FCT’s internal revenue receipts (IGR).
According to the minister, there are around 800 lawsuits suing the FCTA, and to effectively defend it, the government will hire renowned Nigerian counsel.
He went on to explain that the FCT 2023 supplementary budget is different from the national supplementary budget that the president gave. In the former, the FCT received N100 billion to implement national projects such as the metro line and other road projects.
For this reason, Wike has urged the National Assembly to swiftly approve the additional budget, pledging that the FCT will see the commissioning of numerous projects in the coming year.
Mismob Media