26 March 2017, Sweetcrude, Abuja — The Nigerian government has released over N1 trillion for capital projects to federal ministries, departments, and agencies, MDAs, from the 2016 budget, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, Nigeria’s minister for Finance has disclosed.
“So far, N1trillion has been released on capital allocations. This is the highest so far in the history of this country,” the minister disclosed.
“With the current stability in (crude) oil prices and the return of normalcy in Niger Delta, I am sure we will do more this year (2017),” she said.
The Minister disclosed the figures in an interactive exchange with members of the House of Representatives Tactical Committee on Recession in her office in Abuja.
According to her, the amount was released for various projects proposed in the 2016 budget, including the commencement of the construction of a dual standard railway line that would link Lagos to Kano, the rehabilitation of roads, expansion of irrigation facilities to boost agriculture and the upgrade of the aviation infrastructure across the country.
She explained that the released amount include that for the MDAs of N870.1billion at the end of February 2017 and additional releases of N65.4 billion.
Others include the authority to incur expenditure (AIEs) in February 2017 (N11.18 billion) and an additional manual AIEs worth N45.8billion as at March 13, 2017.
She said that the overall capital releases totalling N992.4 billion had significantly impacted the country’s economy, by creating jobs, stimulating economic activities in communities and upgrading infrastructure, thereby improving the general wellbeing of the people.
According to her, contractors returning to project sites across the country have employed workers, contributed to economic growth and improved the wellbeing of Nigerians in line with the strategic objectives of the present administration.
“We are determined to transform the economy. This is why we are focused on capital expenditure. If we have our rails, road and power, then we will be able to generate jobs and prosperity,” she said.