The federal government has set a new record with money released for capital projects to ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) from the 2016 budget surpassing a record N1 trillion.
The 2016 capital votes is the highest ever budgetary releases in Nigeria’s annual funding for capital projects.
The said amount was released for various projects, including the commencement of the construction of a dual standard railway line which will link Lagos and Kano, rehabilitation of roads, expanding of irrigation facilities to boost agriculture and the upgrading of aviation infrastructure throughout the country.
The Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, who disclosed this in an interactive exchange with members of the House of Representatives Tactical Committee on Recession in her office in Abuja assured that the federal government will do more in 2017.
“So far, N1 trillion has been released on capital and this is the highest so far in the history of this country. With the current stability in oil price and the return of normalcy in Niger Delta, I am sure we will do more this year (2017)”, she said.
The minister outlined components of the releases to include aggregate releases to the MDAs of N870, 055, 792, 283.00 billion as at the end of February 2017 and additional releases of N65, 393, 920, 000 billion.
Others are Manual Authority to Incur Expenditure (AIEs) in February 2017 in the sum of N11, 179, 173, 711.42 billion and an additional Manual AIEs worth N45, 804, 709, 077.20 billion as at March 13, 2017.
Adeosun noted that the overall capital releases totaling N992, 433, 595, 071.42 billion have made impact on the Nigerian economy, by creating jobs, stimulating economic activities in communities and upgrading infrastructure, thereby improving the wellbeing of Nigerians.
The Minister pointed out that contractors returning to project sites around the country have employed workers, contributed to economic growth and improved the wellbeing of Nigerians, in line with the strategic objectives of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.
“We are determined to transform the economy and this is why we are focused on capital expenditure. If we have our rail, road and power, then we will be able to generate jobs and prosperity”, she emphasised.
To actualise federal government’s drive to devote more resources to capital projects, especially the upgrading of the country’s infrastructure, the Federal Executive Council, at its meeting on March 22, 2017, had approved the reconstruction of 12 more major highways across the country at a contract sum of N80 billion.