House: There will Be No Budgetary Provision for NSIA in 2022

• Threatens to mop up NBET fund over non-implementation of 2021 budget

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja

The House of Representatives has threatened that it will ensure that the National Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) won’t have any budgetary provision in the 2022 Appropriation Bill if it fails to present its budget.

The Chairman, House Committee on Finance, Hon. James Faleke, stated this on Tuesday in Abuja during the budget defence of some agencies of government.

He lamented that the agency of government has refused consistently to present its budget before the National Assembly.

Faleke said: “We have spoken to the managing director and we advised him that it is against the constitution. We have spoken with the Minister of Finance. It is against the constitution and the minister of finance was never in support of that, that the agency must present their budget.”

The committee chairman said unfortunately, the agency was relying on its law, which says that its board shall approve its budget.

He said the committee had informed the agency that the law, whether made in error or rightly, was not superior to the constitution.

Faleke added: “We are using this opportunity to inform that agency that if they fail to present their budget. There would be no appropriation for that agency in 2022. We will make it clear, and we have made it clear.”

He noted that the committee would write to the accountant general, saying there would be no disbursement of funds from any of the consolidated accounts to that agency, adding that: “That is the opinion of the committee.”

Meanwhile, the Fiscal Responsibility Commission has presented the sum of N806 million as its 2022 appropriation bill.

The Director General of the Commission, Mr. Victor Muruako, made the presentation on Tuesday when he appeared before the committee.

He however said the commission needs to replace critical staff that have left, if the commission is to fulfill its mandate.

“I have tried to interface with Mr. Chairman and indeed, even the office of the minister on the need for the recruitment of fiscal responsibility to strengthen and ensure that will fulfill our mandate,” Muruako added.

Also, the committee has threatened to mop up the fund of Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading (NBET) Plc due to non-implementation of the capital projects in the 2021 Appropriation Act.

The committee lamented that with just two months before the 2021 Appropriation Act elapsed, it would be difficult for the agency to implement its capital projects with just two months before the year runs out.

The committee stated this when the Managing Director of NBET, Dr. Nnaemeka Eweluka, presented the 2022 budget before the committee on Tuesday.

Faleke observed: “If you go through your budget and releases, most of the releases, you have had a 100 per cent in releases. And we are in October, two months to go and implementation has not started and your budget will end by December. So, it’s likely that the fund will be mopped up because I don’t see you awarding the contracts now. It’s crucial.”

Eweluka however assured the committee that the agency would complete the procurement process and ensured that the implementation of its capital projects commence in earnest.

He said: “Honorable chairman, we are confident that we will be able to complete our procurement processes. We have obtained the PPP, no objection and we are in the process of going to the next stage – financial evaluations, as the case may be. So, we are at an advanced stage and we are confident. We are very confident.”

The managing director explained that the reason for the delay was because the agency was being meticulous by making sure the procurement rules are complied with.

He added: “I want to be sure that we match closely, follow the procurement procedure and so it has been a painstaking process. But like I said, it’s at an advanced age. We’ve done our technical evaluations. We are to the point of doing financial evaluations and we are confident that we’ll be able to complete this.”

But Faleke said while there was nothing wrong in being meticulous and following the rules, the slow pace of the process was hurting the economy.

The committee chairman said they shouldn’t be discussing non-implementation of the budget where there was capital 100 per cent capital release.

The committee therefore asked the agency to furnish it with the details of the procurement stage it has reached.

Eweluka also explained that the issue of power evacuation was the priority of the government, adding that at the moment, the contracted capacity was about 14,000MW.

He stressed that of the 14,000MW, what was available in terms of what generation companies are capable of producing is around 7,600MW.

The managing director said because of different constraints in the system at either transmission or distribution level, the 7,600MW is not fully available, adding that what is available is about 4,500MW.

He added that to address the gap between what is available and what the system can currently carry, the federal government has embarked on a lot of intervention projects.

This, he said, included the Presidential Power Initiative in partnership with Siemens, while the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was also supporting funding of interface between transmission and distribution companies.

Eweluka stressed that to improve power generation, there was need to increase the corridor for the power to move and a number of interface projects that are critical to enhance power evacuation, adding that CBN was currently providing funding to address those interface bottlenecks.

While the managing director refused to give a specific time frame when the various interventions by the government would improve power generation and distribution in the country, he said President Muhammadu Buhari is committed to concluding these interventions within the lifespan of the present administration.