…As Perm Sec says Aso Rock Clinic got zero allocation for capital projects in 2017 budget*** 

The Nigerian Ports Authority has projected N288bn revenue for the 2017 fiscal year and plans to spend N278bn on recurrent and capital expenditures, leaving only N10bn for the Federal Government.

The NPA also proposed a surplus of N8bn in 2017.

These figures were made known by the Senate Committee on Marine Transport in its report on the 2017 budget proposals by the NPA, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, Nigerian Shippers’ Council, Nigerian Inland and Waterways Authority, Maritime Academy of Nigeria Oron, and the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria.

The President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, had decried that several departments and agencies of the Federal Government were spending “all or most” of their revenues.

He stated that it was necessary for revenue generating agencies to live up to their mandates, stressing that this would reduce the need for borrowing by the government.

In the report, which was adopted at the Senate on Tuesday, the panel said the 2016 revenue target of the NPA was N201,146,319,843, “out of which N174,009,312,695, representing 86 per cent, was realised and expended.”

According to another report by the Committee on Finance on the 2017 budget proposal by the Federal Inland Revenue Service, which was also adopted by the Senate, out of the N153.4bn expected four per cent cost of non-oil collection, the service proposed to spend N152,897,252,696 for 2017, with a budget surplus of N548,104,277.

The personnel cost of the service was put at N75,812,293,039 (49.58 per cent); overhead cost, N46,001,530,533 (30.09 per cent); and capital, N31,083,429,124 (20.33 per cent).

The 2017 budget of the FIRS, the report stated, was focused on capacity to increase the Value Added Tax and non-oil revenue.

“Principally, VAT is expected to grow from N828bn to N1.8tn, which is over 125 per cent,” it said.

In the meantime, the Permanent Secretary, State House, Abuja, Jalal Arabi has debunked the allegation that the State House Medical Centre received N11.01 billion as appropriation from 2015 to 2017 fiscal year.

Arabi also stated that the State House Medical Centre received zero allocation for capital project in 2017, while only 33 percent of the entire budgetary allocation to the clinic was released since 2015.

In a statement signed by the Deputy Director, Information, State House, Abuja, Attah Esa, the Permanent Secretary stated that out of the total capital appropriation of N2,941,062,044 billion only N969,681,821.53 representing 32.97 percent, while N465,935,358 billion for recurrent, only N225,575,200.60 representing 48.41 percent was released.

The statement read: “The attention of the Presidency has been drawn to recent media reports suggesting that the State House Medical Centre had received N11.01billion as appropriation for the period 2015-2017.

“According to the Permanent Secretary, State House, Jalal A. Arabi, contrary to the above claims, out of the total Capital Appropriation of N2,941,062,044.00 and Recurrent Appropriation of N465,935,358.00 for the period under reference, only the sum of N969,681,821.53 (representing 32.97%) for Capital and N225,575,200.60 (representing 48.41%) for Recurrent was actually released.

“Arabi also said it may interest the public to know that there was zero capital allocation for the Medical Centre in 2017, while out of the N331,730,211.00 being recurrent appropriation for 2017, the actual amount released up to September was N91,370,053.60 (representing only 27.54%).

“The Permanent Secretary emphasised that the above figures are verifiable from the Ministries of Finance, Budget and National Planning.

“He observed that during the three-year period under review (indeed two years since no capital allocation for 2017), and despite the shortfalls between budgetary provisions and actual releases, the Medical Centre continued to provide free services to the over 10,000 registered patients annually. In addition, the Centre has continued to execute on-going projects.

“Giving further insight into the scope of the Medical Centre’s clientele, Arabi stressed that apart from the Presidency, other beneficiaries of the free services include political appointees, the military, para-military, other security agencies, members of the National Assembly, and the general public.

“In the words of the Permanent Secretary, “Considering the unrestricted patronage base and free services of the State House Medical Centre, coupled with the funding hiccups and periodic receipts, it may not be far-fetched to notice gaps between demand and supply of medical equipment and consumables at certain stages of the budget circle.”

Punch with additional report from Citizen