Senate has uncovered whooping N3.966 billion phantom border projects in the 2013 Appropriation Bill. The projects are allegedly domiciled in the Office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation in the Ministry of Works.
Last year, N3,971,797,886 was allocated for the same projects submitted to the National Assembly for consideration. The border projects were listed on pages 1738-1739 of the 2012 Appropriation Act as: 2013 FGN Budget: Capital Expenditure Details under the Ministry of Works.
The 11 projects totaling N3,966,679,624 in the 2013 budget, are meant for the surveying, observation, vista clearing and pillar/beacon construction of Nigerian borders.
Enquiries forwarded to the Ministry of Works were directed to the office of the Surveyor-General who, they said, would be in a better position to answer the question.
The Surveyor-General, Professor Peter Nwilo, however, disowned the projects. In a text message to Nwilo yesterday, asking whether his office got and utilised the N3.966 billion budget for 2012, he replied: “We did not get anything near that at all in the 2012 budget.
Our total budget is just near that. Check…” Furthermore, a sum of N3,971,797,886 was allocated to the same projects. The same set of projects have been listed in the Ministry of Works’ 2013 budget, in the same office with institution code: 0234002001.
A breakdown of the projects for 2013, as submitted to the committee, are as follows: •Survey/field assessment to boundary corridor to ascertain straddling settlements on Nigeria/Cameroon international boundary from the North-east and South-east (N51, 865,850); surveying and observation of Nigeria’s international boundaries (1) Nigeria/ Benin (2) Nigeria/Niger (3) Nigeria/Cameroon (4) Nigeria/Chad; all located in the South west geo-political zone (N54,120,887); vista clearing of Nigeria/Benin international boundary-S/W (N20,295,332); vista clearing of Nigeria/Niger international boundary (N20,295,332). •Pillar construction of Nigeria/Benin international boundary-N/W (24,805,406).
Other allocations include: pillar construction of Nigeria/Niger international boundary-N/E (N24,805,406); observation of boundary beacons towards mapping of interstate boundaries (88 interstate boundaries) (N28,013.49); and clearing of interstate boundary lines (6 meters wide, 5km-600km long) 88 interstate boundaries (N56,186,393).
The remaining projects are: Replacement of pillars along boundaries (88 interstate boundaries)—-N99,501,067; tracing of boundaries in the field using legal instrument (in all the states of the Federation)—-N51,006,975; and maintenance of international boundary demarcation management (N29,315,480.
All the aforementioned projects, according to Director-General of the National Boundary Commission (NBC), Dr. Mohammed Ahmad are all on paper, as they do not exist. Dr. Ahmad made this declaration before the Senator Kabiru Gaya-led Committee on States and Local Governments Administration during a budget defence hearing.
Besides, Ahmad contended before the committee that such projects were within the purview of the NBC and not the Works Ministry. Ahmad also told the committee that earlier protests from the commission were routinely ignored, adding that Nigeria does not have 88 interstate boundaries. Nigeria, he further contended, has only 86 interstate boundaries because there had not been additional creation of states to bring the figure up to 88.
His words: “Last year, we noticed certain things in the budget which did not exist in practical terms or they are the responsibility of the NBC…We pointed out that they didn’t exist. There’s the survey on the Niger/Benin…what is surveying and observation?
“We pointed this out! Nigeria/Chad has been beaconed, it has been surveyed and coordinated and the Nigeria/Cameroon border has has not reached that stage. The boundary is yet to be known…Yet, it is there in the budget. We pointed out that it doesn’t exist in practical realisties. “There’s another one on vista clearing of Nigeria/Benin border.
Where is the boundary they are going to clear? This is a boundary that has not been clearly established and for you to clear the vista of a boundary, there has to be agreement between the two countries, Nigeria and the Republic of Benin. “It’s not a singular exercise by one nation and we pointed that out. It cannot be done by the ministry.
It’s the NBC of Nigeria that goes into agreement with the NBC of Niger Republic, Republic of Benin and Cameroon in order to take a joint action. “There’s no way you can take unilateral action on boundary. It’s not possible and yet, it was provided for in the budget.
“There’s also vista clearing provision in the budget for Jigawa State. Distinguished senator, you are from Jigawa State; can you tell me if there’s need for vista clearing that Jigawa section of the border with Niger? “Is there need for vista clearing? Vista clearing is to clear the trees and bushes in order to make the boundary visible…It’s done so that you can see 10 to 15 kilometers.
What do we clear in the desert? “There’s another allocation for pillar construction and observation of beacons(88 in all). We pointed out that there are 86 and not 88 inter-state boundaries. We didn’t create two more states.
This doesn’t exist. “There are so many people who knew in this country that this doesn’t exist anywhere. There’s another provision for clearing of inter-state boundary. We are all Nigerians here; have we seen any interstate boundary that has been cleared? They want to clear boundary corridor (yet) in most cases, the borders have not been established.
“We pointed that out and they said we are trouble-makers.” In his remarks, the committee chairman disclosed how the committee had complained in the past about the projects and its feasibility. Gaya then urged the Budget Office of the Federation to retrieve all monies hitherto released to the ministry.
“We pointed out areas where these things are wrong and yet, they still put it there. We don’t know what is really happening and we are not talking of N4 billion. “Last year, it was N3.966 billion and I’m sure you must have given the Ministry of Works its last allocation.
If you have given them the whole of that money, how, then, do we get this money back to the treasury because these projects can’t be done. “It’s not even feasible. We want you to quickly do this and tackle it because the same figures have appeared in the 2013 budget. Is this how we operate our budget in this country,” Gaya said. Director (Expenditure) in the Budget Office, Mrs. Ngozi Odega who was present, quickly distanced the agency from the projects and insisted that only the Works Minister, Mike Onolomemen that could establish the veracity of the projects.
“In this particular instance, we are talking of submissions from the Ministry of Works. We are not in a position to actually establish whose responsibilities these (projects) are. “They have been signed off by the Ministry of Works, under whose purview is the Surveyor-General office. I want to believe that the Minister of Works will be able to confirm that these are his responsibilities.”
Source: Sun News
Source: Sun News
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