(http://www.theinfostride.com/images/resized/images/stories/senators/Resized/smart%20adeyemi%20-%20500_280_212_46x35.gif) The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) did not spend the sum of N47.7 billion out of the N236.1bn budgeted for it last year, a report by a committee of the Senate has shown. The Senate also passed the 2012 FCT budget, slashing the estimate from N306.499bn to N306.414bn.
The report of the Senate Joint Committees on FCT and Appropriations on the 2012 FCT Statutory Appropriation Bill, presented by the chairman of the Senate Committee on FCT, Senator Smart Adeyemi (PDP, Kogi West) shows that out of the N20.3bn budgeted for the expansion of Airport Road (LOTS 1&2) project in 2011, only N18.767bn was paid; while only N8.5bn out of the N17bn voted for the provision of engineering infrastructure in Jahi, Wuye, Abuja North-west and Maitama Extension Districts.
The report also indicates that only N3.4bn out of the N5bn budgeted for the extension of "Inner Southern Expressway to Southern Expressway was spent.
In the same vein, out of the N5bn appropriated for the Lower Usman Dan-Gurara Road, only N4.085bn was paid to the contractor handling the project; while out of the N3.4bn budgeted for the resettlement and compensation scheme, N484.5m was "released and paid to the contractors."
The report further shows that out of the N25.788bn voted for the development of satellite town infrastructure, only N13.09bn "was paid for the various ongoing construction works"; while out of the N747, 141, 708 budgeted for "the preparation of Abuja Urban Mass Bus Transit Projects and purchase of Recovery Vehicles and communication gadgets/road signs, N747m was expended.
According to the report, out of the N9.6bn budgeted for the FCT education sector in 2011, only N3.2bn was spent; while only N717.2m was utilized out of the N2.816bn allocated to the health sector.
Similarly, the report shows that out of the N8.856bn budgeted for the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC), only N1.855bn was utilized; while only N345.4m out of the N1.525bn voted for water supply.
The report also reveals that out of the N3.616bn appropriated for the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB), only N758.5m was spent on "some key projects".
The report was silent on whether these unspent funds were remitted to any account or not, but Senator Adeyemi later told our correspondent on phone that the funds would have been remitted if not for the fact that the 2011 budget was extended to March 31, 2012, adding that the FCT used the funds to clear the debt certificates of some projects that were not paid for between 2010 and 2011.
Meanwhile, the Senate has barred the FCT minister from withdrawing monies from the FCTA statutory revenue account without the authorization of the National Assembly.
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Daily Trust