Failure of the Ministry of Defence to forward military hardware estimates is delaying the submission of the planned supplementary budget to the National Assembly for consideration and passage.
The government intends to transmit the budget to provide for the procurement of security equipment and COVID-19 vaccines.
But according to the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, the transmission of the budget to the legislature has not been done because of the non-submission of the military hardware estimates by the defence ministry.
Speaking during the post-Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting briefing the presidential villa, Abuja on Wednesday, she also revealed that the government has suspended its plan to build additional primary healthcare centres across the country.
The FEC meeting was presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo following the departure of President Muhammadu Buhari to the United Kingdom for a medical checkup.
Ahmed explained that her ministry has met with the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Lucky Irabor, and the three service chiefs on the urgent need to have the estimates to include it in the proposed supplementary budget.
However, she said that up till now, the security chiefs were yet to furnish her office with the details but expressed hope that the estimate will come before long.
Mrs Ahmed stated: “For the military hardware, we have met with the Service Chiefs and the Chief of Defence Staff. They are supposed to aggregate their request for review amongst themselves and then pass it to Mr President, then it will be sent to us. So, we are waiting for the information of the aggregate requirements.”
She added that the supplementary budgetary estimate for COVID-19 vaccines is ready but the amount initially voted for the building of primary healthcare centres has now been kept on hold.
The further said: “Sometime in January, the President based on the request by the Ministry of Health gave approval in principle for the Ministry of Health to work with the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning to prepare and take to the National Assembly a supplementary budget for COVID-19 vaccination.
“The submission that was made to Mr President at that time was in the sum of N399 billion, but included in this N399 billion was a N103 billion for the building of primary healthcare centres. So, we’ve worked with and met several times with the ministry, we’ve agreed to back out from this building of primary health care centres, that can wait till later. So, there’s still a provision of 396 billion for COVID-19 vaccinations for 2021 and 2022.”
The minister also revealed that Nigeria is expecting not less than 43 million COVID-19 doses from donors, adding that health ministry officials have been mandated to come up with the total number of vaccine donation being expected to guide the government in its plans to buy more vaccines for the citizenry.
She stated: “There have been some delays because we expected the ministry to confirm the vaccines donation that Nigeria is expecting. We are expecting a total of not less than 43 million doses of vaccines. So, they are supposed to find out when those ones will come. Because, if we are going to get back the donated vaccines, and at the speed of the current rollout, we have slowed down on what we’re buying ourselves.
“So, the ministry is working with partners that are donating these vaccines. So, we see the timelines of the donations and see the gap that the government needs to fill in 2021.
“But we have already provided to the ministry funds to enable them to roll out the 4 million vaccines that have been brought already into the country, and the vaccination process is ongoing.
“So, for us is still a work in progress. We hope in the next couple of days, we’ll have clarity on the schedule of vaccines expected from donors, and then we will now be able to firm up what government has to provide for in 2021. And therefore the 2022 component we will provide it during the 2022 appropriations.”
In his remarks at the briefing, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mohammad Bello, changed position on the implementation of the 13.25-kilometre Apo-Karshi road, saying that it is no longer feasible to complete it on the stated time frame.
The minister had told correspondents on February 17 that the project would be completed before the rains set in this year.
But answering questions on the project, he said current facts in his possession show that the projected cannot be completed as previously stated.
The road, which was first awarded at the sum of N6.4 billion in 2011 to Kakatar Engineering Limited, a company owned by Azibaola Robert, under former President Goodluck Jonathan administration, was designed to ease the gridlock at the AYA-Nyanya-Mararaba section of the Abuja-Keffi road that links the Abuja metropolis with some densely populated satellite towns including Karshi, and neighbouring Nasarawa State.
Bello said: “Thank you very much for the question on the Apo-Karshi road. I made that statement here a few weeks ago based on information available to me at that time. But, it is very obvious now based on the reality on the ground and the challenges being faced by the contractor including funding which we are trying to resolve.
“It is likely that we would not be able to meet the target I earlier set up for making sure that that road gets opened before the rainy season. But, you can be rest assured that is a road that is so important to all of us in the city, and we will keep on pushing on to see that it Is done.”
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