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MDAs smuggle N 1 trillion worth of projects into 2012 Budget – Senate

By on February 15, 2012

The Senate Committee on Appropriation has indicted Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government of having inflated the 2012 budget by a colossal N 1 trillion.

Chairman of the committee, Ahmed Maccido, informed journalists in Abuja yesterday that the budgets presented by the leadership of the various MDAs that appeared before the committee were substantially higher from the original budget the President presented to the House of Assembly on December 13th, 2011.

Maccido stated, “The problem is that we are seeing projects that are not in the original version of the budget presented to us by President Goodluck Jonathan and substantial number of these projects is being smuggled into the budget by the MDAs and their ministers.

“The items so smuggled into the budget are over N1tn. So, we are right now comparing the budget as originally presented by the President and the version presented by the MDAs.

“Unless these projects are there in the original budget, we are going to scrap them. It is no longer going to be business as usual. These people are just smuggling in projects that are not in the budget and we going to remove them.”

Also Senate President, David Mark has given the various Senate committees a deadline of tomorrow to submit their decisions on the budget to the Maccido led Committee on Appropriation.

Indicators are emerging that by next week, the Senate and House of Representatives will begin a harmonization period that will lead to the budget being passed late February or early March.