FG Insincere With Nigerians On Budget, Spent Over N20.4tn In 2014, Says Chairman, House C’ttee On Public Accounts

The member representing Alimosho Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Hon. Solomon Adeola, has said that the Federal Government, under President Goodluck Jonathan, has failed to meet the yearnings and aspirations of Nigerians.

Adeola, who is currently the All Progressives Congress, APC, senatorial candidate for Lagos West Senatorial District in the February 2015 elections, said this at an interactive forum with journalists on Tuesday at the Ladi Lawal Press Centre in Lagos.

Speaking on the issue of government expenditure and budget implementation at the federal level, Adeola, who is the Chairman, House Committee on Public Accounts, explained that while the Federal Government’s budget for 2014 was in the region of N4.9tn, the total expenditure of the government within a fiscal year was about N20.4tn.

He said, “I say this without fear or favour; the government at the centre has not been sincere to Nigerians. I can write them off as a failed government. The budget declared to Nigerians is about N4.9tn. But the other extra-ministerial and departmental spending, which do not come with the main budget, is about N16tn. The entire expenditure of the Federal Government at various levels is over N20.4tn, but what is disclosed to Nigerians is about N4.9tn.

“Even within the budget of N4.9tn, there is what we call service wide vote, which I call budget within a budget. This is an amount of money set aside for emergencies. There is no breakdown or items of expenditure for the service wide votes. Spending from the vote is discretionary and it is only the Minister of Finance, the Director General of Budget and the President that can access the funds.

“We have had situations where there are no emergencies, yet the service wide vote has performed more than the original budget of the country. This goes to show that the government is not being sincere and has failed Nigerians”.

The lawmaker also kicked against the creation of additional states on the grounds that it was not economically viable.

Adeola also accused the government of financial recklessness and corruption, saying that Nigerians should be paying less for petroleum products now as a result of the falling price of crude oil in the international market.