FRESH indications, on Sunday, emerged that the non-release of 2018 budget for the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) may affect November staff salary as the administration has exhausted its 2017 statutory budget.
This, it was learnt, might ground both capital and statutory activities of the administration if urgent steps were not taken.
In a statement, however, by a civil society organisation, Good Governance Initiative and signed by its coordinator, Comrade Olumide Oladimeji, a copy of which was made available to TribuneOnline in Abuja, on Sunday, affirmed that the administration has exhausted its 2017 statutory budget, while the ongoing capital projects were in a standstill owing to non-release of the 2018 budget.
According to the statement: “It is shocking that in the month of November, we are still talking about the release of the 2018 budget, and everybody is silent about it. As we speak, nobody can tell you categorically the state of FCT budget.
“Our investigation shows that activities in the administration are grounded and salaries for civil servants in the month of November are in limbo.
“This goes to show that civil servants may also have a bleak Christmas if urgent steps are not taken to address this unwarranted situation. We have moved around the territory and discovered that previous ongoing capital projects are in a flat mode. Nothing seems to be working due to non-release of the budget. Whether we like it or not, performance in governance is tied to provision and release of the budget,” the statement revealed.
Comrade Olademije, therefore, canvassed for FCT State Assembly for speedy passage of the budget and other legislative bills that would enhance the service delivery of the administration, stressing that budget performance of the administration has recorded below average since 1999.
He promised to mobilise his group alongside other civil society organisations to enforce the immediate release of the budget if nothing was done before November runs out.