THE Action Congress has called on President Umaru Yar‘Adua to pay the accumulated N400 billion belonging to the Niger Delta Development Commission.

The AC said that the commission needed the funds to enable it to carry out projects that would help in the development of the Niger Delta.

Speaking in a telephone interview on Saturday with SUNDAY PUNCH, the party’s Publicity Secretary in Rivers State, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, expressed dissatisfaction over Federal Government‘s inability to pay the money.

Explaining that the accumulated sum was owed the commission by the immediate past administration of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, Eze argued that the payment of the money would go a long way to show President Yar‘Adua‘s seriousness in tackling the Niger Delta problem.

He said, ”We in the Action Congress are watching the President. He has always given the impression that he wants the development of the Niger Delta, but in practical terms, not much has been done.

”It is unacceptable that the Federal Government is still withholding the sum of N400bn being an accumulated sum owed the commission. If such a huge amount of money is owed NDDC, how can it carry out its objective of assisting in the development of the Niger Delta?”

He expressed dissatisfaction at the amount appropriated to the NDDC in the proposed 2009 budget, adding that the commission needed adequate funds to execute its projects.

Eze, however, expressed satisfaction over the 25 per cent oil derivation as recommended by the Technical Committee on Niger Delta.

He noted that though, 50 per cent derivation was expected, the 25 per cent recommended would go a long way to providing the needed infrastructure development in the region.

Eze charged the Federal Government to find a way of monitoring how funds allocated to both the states and local government areas were spent.

On the appointment of Alhaji Rilwan Lukman as the new petroleum minister, Eze said though, the President might have chosen him as a result of his experience, the party did not subscribe to such an appointment.

“We in the AC do not subscribe to such action. Somebody from the Niger Delta should have been allowed to handle such ministry,” the AC stalwart said.

Thirteen federal ministries did not spend a single kobo from their capital budget allocations this year even though about 75 percent of the funds were released to them, a survey by the House of Representatives Committee on Public Procurement (Due Process) has discovered.

On the other hand, the survey found that four key ministries spent more than was allocated to them as capital vote, while 10 more ministries spent less than 50 percent of the capital budgetary allocations.

The survey also cast aspersion on the ability of the government to implement the seven point agenda and keep faith with the rule of law.

Thirty eight Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) were studied and of them, four key government ministries representing 13 percent were found by the survey to have overspent their capital budgetary allocations, while 13 ministries, representing 42 percent of the MDAs did not spend even a kobo from their releases.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200812190471.html


For the poor working masses, as usual, there is nothing to cheer at the proposed 2009 Budget recently presented by President Umaru Musa Yar’adua. The woe of poor Nigerians has in fact been compounded by the global economic meltdown which has expectedly taken its toll on the oil revenue which accounts for about 98% of the foreign earnings and over 80% of annual revenue. Sadly, when there was boom which saw the price of crude oil reached the all time high of $147 in July.
Yar’adua said that the 2009 budget provides 91% of the capital votes to five key priority sectors which include critical infrastructure, human capital development, agriculture and water resources, Niger Delta and security.
But there is nothing to celebrate; emphasizing 91% is just playing up figure to deceive. In reality, compared to 2008 budget there is reduction in the allocations to the sectors identified by Yar’adua as critical to his fabled seven-point agenda. For instance, education, health and transport have seen the capital components of their allocation reduced from N47.8bn, N49.37bn and N94.36bn in 2008 budget to N33.6bn, N39.6bn and N35.2bn respectively in 2009 proposed budget. Also, the capital allocation to the Niger Delta has plummeted from N84bn to N77.12bn shared between the new created Niger Delta Ministry and Niger Delta Development Commission. Worst still, there is zero allocation to the housing sector!
With the seeming shorthage of cash wud it be possible to pay off the 400 billion debt?

They can but they don't want to.