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FG to begin capital projects evaluation next month

By on August 26, 2014

The Federal Government will from next month begin an evaluation of capital projects currently being executed by Ministries, Departments and Agencies.

The Minister of National Planning, Dr. Abubakar Sulaiman, disclosed this in Abuja during a courtesy visit to his office by the management team of the University of Abuja, led by the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Michael Adikwu.

The evaluation, according to the minister, is aimed at ensuring that all projects captured in the 2014 budget are effectively implemented and completed as planned.

Highlights of the budget as passed by the National Assembly and signed by President Goodluck Jonathan are: statutory transfers, N408.68bn; debt servicing, N712bn ; recurrent expenditure, N2.454tn and capital expenditure, N1.119tn.

At the end of the second quarter, a total of N400bn had been released by the Ministry of Finance for capital projects.

Sulaiman said the monitoring would have 20 members of the academia in the new spirit of creating a better synergy between the National Planning Commission and the academia.

This, according to him, will bring integrity to the exercise.

He said, “We are going to establish a synergy between NPC and the university system.

“We will soon commence the monitoring of the MDAs project by September. Twenty members of the academia will participate in the monitoring of the federal MDAs projects across the country, with 12 coming from the University of Abuja.

“The effort is geared towards bringing integrity to the exercise and also exposing them to the practical aspect, not just the theory of what government is doing,” he said.

The minister lamented the level of disconnect between the university system and the economy, stating that until the universities were given their rightful place in the policy formulation process, the country would not witness meaningful development.

He also said that if the National Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan, which had already been ratified by the National Economic Council, was approved by the Federal Executive Council, members of the academia would be involved in both the preparation of the blueprint and its implementation.

Sulaiman pledged to assist the institution not only by bringing development partners who would assist them to secure grant but also ensuring that their cause was taken to the National Assembly.

The minister further urged them to fix their distance learning programme, which he lamented, had dropped in terms of student patronage and also the school’s postgraduate programme.

Speaking earlier, the institution’s Vice Chancellor, Professor Adikwu, stressed the need for research to be given a prominent role in the university system, adding that the case of Ebola virus in Nigeria could have been better managed if the universities were well equipped to carry out research.

Adikwu also stated that tertiary institutions was critical to the nation’s development.

 

 

[Punch]