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FAAC allocates N1.17tn to SURE-P

By on October 6, 2014

The Federation Accounts Allocation Committee allocated a total sum of N1.17trn to federal and state governments for the implementation of the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme between January 2012 and September 2014.

Investigations by our correspondent showed that on a monthly basis, N35.549bn was deducted from the gross collectible revenue by FAAC and paid into the SURE-P account domiciled with the Central Bank of Nigeria.

SURE-P was set up in January 2012 to pacify angry Nigerians in the wake of the partial removal of subsidy on local consumption of petroleum products.

The sharing formula required the Federal Government to warehouse 41 per cent of the subsidy savings; the state and local governments shared 54 per cent, while the remaining five per cent is reserved for ecological challenges.

Of the N35.55bn distributed monthly, the Federal Government is allocated N15bn indicating a total amount of N495bn for the 33-month period, while the states, local government and ecological fund got the balance of N675bn.

An analysis of the intervention areas of the SURE-P showed that in 2012, N33.36bn representing 18.53 per cent was budgeted for railway projects while N85.50bn was allocated for the construction of roads and bridges.

Others are Niger Delta, N21.70bn; maternal and child health intervention, N15.94bn; mass transit, N8.9bn; public works, N5bn; vocational training, N8.6bn and consultancy and logistics, N1bn.

For the 2013 fiscal period, the SURE-P budgeted N77.42bn and N111.5bn for railway and road projects while Niger Delta, maternal and child care, mass transit were expected to gulp N42.27bn, N16.91bn and N6.1bn respectively.

Others were public works N9bn, vocational training N8.6bn, culture and tourism N224m, and consultancy N1.5bn.

Commenting on the implementation of SURE-P, the Lead Director, Centre for Social Justice, Mr Eze Onyekpere, said while the funds at the federal level have made appreciable impact, the implementation and utilisation of funds at the state and local government levels were not separately budgeted and accounted for.

He said, “The fund goes into the normal funds of the state through regular appropriation and expenditure process.

“This creates doubts about the propriety of the expenditures and what exactly it is spent on.

“It would have been appropriate if the states created a structure similar to the federal one so that the expenditure of the funds can be tracked and value for money determined.

“Even the federal SURE-P structure at the star level appears to have been politicised and an opportunity to settle political associates of the ruling party.”

In order to get the maximum benefits of the program, Onyekwere advised that details of the activities of SURE-P should be made available to all Nigerians.

He also suggested that all SURE-P funds should be released and cash backed to ensure continued and timely completion of projects.

He said, “Carrying over of funds from year to year when there are outstanding claims by contractors and dearth of funds are delaying project implementation.

“Timely payment of contractors who have worked and delivered according to contract specifications should be the norm.”

He called for the blacklisting of contractors without the required capacity, adding that all project bidding processes should meticulously follow the provisions of the Public Procurement Act.

The CSJ boss urged the management of SURE-P to focus more on activities that are sustainable in the long run.

 

[Punch]