The first quarter of this fiscal year has ended without the release of quarterly allocations for capital projects to Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) by the Federal Government.
LEADERSHIP WEEKEND investigations has shown that the inability of the government to release allocations was due to the delay in signing the 2012 Appropriation bill into law.
However, there were indications on Thursday that the 2012 Appropriation bill which has been passed since March 14, would be assented by President Goodluck Jonathan next week.
A reliable source in the National Assembly informed LEADERSHIP WEEKEND, that all the grey areas had been properly taken care of and the bill would soon become an Act, thus paving the way for distribution of funds to the MDA’s.
The N4.648 trillion, 2012 Appropriation bill was presented to the joint session of the National Assembly by the president, Goodluck Jonathan.
The lawmakers however increased the figure to N4.877 trillion before it was finally passed on March14, 2012,
Further investigations, revealed that the delay in signing the appropriation bill was largely responsible for the lack of allocations to the MDA’s at the end of the first quarter.
The signing of the Appropriation bill would make funds available for capital projects.
When contacted, the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation through the assistant director in charge of press, Hassan Dodo, said that the accountant-general and his directors were on official assignment outside the country and therefore could not be reached for further clarification.
Our investigation shows that MDA’s have not been able to function appropriately due to lack of funds, even as local contracts had also slowed down.