New Telegraph

FG: Many projects abandoned across the country

The Federal Government has decried the number of projects abandoned across the country after spending public funds running into billions of naira.

 

This alarm was raised yesterday when the Chairman, Fiscal Responsibility Commission, Chief Victor Muruako led top officials of the Commission on a courtesy visit to the Minister of Special Duties and Inter- Governmental Affairs, Senator George Akume.

 

Muruako, who said he was seeking for collaboration with the Ministry to reach all people within the grassroots with his Fiscal Responsibility campaign, noted that the most worrisome was the fact that many of these abandoned projects were started with borrowed funds. He also stressed that there was a need to intensify campaigns that will ensure that when governments at any level borrow money for projects, such funds will not be diverted nor the projects abandoned.

 

According to him, collaborating with the ministry will help the Commission achieve the goals of the Economic Sustainability Plan of the present administration.

 

He said: “In our efforts at verifying Federal Government projects around the country, we have discovered that most of these projects have been abandoned, particularly when members that sponsored them leave office or are not re-elected.

 

“Notably, the government spends huge sums of money on these projects.”

 

Also collaborating on what the Commission’s Chairman said, the Minister of Special Duties and Inter- Governmental Affairs, Senator George Akume, disclosed that his ministry has also shockingly discovered a number of projects abandoned across states during its Constituency Projects monitoring.

 

He noted that in line with President Muhammadu Buhari on public financial probity, his ministry has also been making efforts to ensure that projects initiated with public funds are completed and put to use.

 

Akume stressed that his ministry’s mandate includes monitoring Constituency projects across the country, and making sure that commensurate value was derived for the public funds expended on any project.

 

He also assured that a joint committee consisting of staff of his ministry and the Commission would be set to ensure that both states and local governments comply with fiscal responsibility rules

Read Previous

Violent congresses: INEC threatens to blacklist parties

Read Next

Ethnic, tribal clashes, threat to African unity, stability, says Buhari

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *