…queries whereabouts of saved N1bn, N4.5b KWIRS allocation, N250m ‘sitting allowance’
*Abdulrazaq yet to explain spending 3months after our request – ENetSuD
By Mumini AbdulKareem
A Kwara based Civil Society Organisation (CSO), Brain Builders International (BBI), last week picked grave holes in the budget of the Kwara State government raising serious queries on some questionable and spurious allocations contained in the approved document.
The position of BBI is coming amidst concerns in the state that the budget despite the position of the government as a “budget of hope” is fraught with controversial provisions.
BBI is a non-governmental organization charged with the mandate of ensuring public transparency and accountability in governance in Kwara State, according to statement by it Executive Director, Olasupo Abideen.
Governor Abdurrahman Abdulrazaq following the passage by the House of Assembly recently assented to the 2020 appropriation bill of N162. 487,666,170 on January 30th, 2020, adding that the document was designed to rebuild the state, uplift the people from poverty and addresses infrastructural deficit.
However BBI in its two-part appraisal yet of the budget has noted that the appropriation bill contained some obscure line items and lacked details which could be difficult for interested individuals or advocacy groups to track.
The group intervention led to serious disagreement between it and the government handlers last week some of who accused the group of working for the opposition, an allegation that BBI vehemently denied.
In its observation of the budget, the group queried the whereabouts of the N1bn Governor Abdulrahman said he has saved since coming to power, the N4.5bn allocation in the budget for the Kwara State Internal Revenue Service (KWIRS) and a curious N250m ‘sitting allowance’ for government officials.
A rejoinder through the Press Secretary, Ministry of Finance and Planning, Saad Hamdalat Temitope to the first report by BBI was however met with more bogus claims by the government in the budget titled “Kwara 2020 budget: Is it really a budget of hope”.
Part of the reports read:
“We would (firstly) like to correct the wrong notion that our effort at analyzing the budget estimates was an attempt to castigate or scandalize the State Government for whatever reason. Our report was aimed at deepening democracy and demanding transparency and accountability from the government as part of the objectives of our organization.
“…we proceed to react to each of the claims made by the State government in its rejoinder.
“A cursory check will reveal that allocation for the purchase of motor vehicles and buses for the State Assembly was pegged at N522m and N204m respectively. While under the budget for Governor’s Office, N150m was budgeted for the purchase of motor vehicles, N555m for vans, and another N50m for buses. When this is summed up, you have: N1.481bn, which is even above N1.2b.
“The State government also claimed that the N1.6b allocated for the State Assembly is to cater for expenses on House committee assignments, oversight functions and payment of salaries and allowances of members and staff of the Assembly, some of whom are civil servants who are under the payroll of the State government.
“And surprisingly, under the same House of Assembly budget, there is another allocation of N95.6m tagged as Personnel Cost for staff of the Assembly. Can the State government and the Assembly explain to us the difference between the personnel cost and payment of salaries of staff of the Assembly?
“On our concern about the huge funds allocated to fuelling of Government House vehicles and generators, …how did the State government arrive at its calculation and conclusion? The government official(s) who did the calculation has/have only exposed their poor knowledge of Mathematics or could it be an attempt by the government to cover up its flaw. As at today, a litre of petrol is sold for N145 while a litre of diesel goes for N240.
“Therefore 640,689 litres of petrol at the rate of N145 is N89, 999, 905. 45, 454 litres of diesel at the rate of N240 is N10, 908, 960. If you add N89,999,905 and N10,908,960, we have N100,908,865. Where did the government put the other 90Million? It should also be noted that another N60m was budgeted for maintenance of plants and generator”.
“Also, the N4.5bn allocated to KWIRS for financial consulting appears obscure. It is imperative that the government state what it means by financial consulting. Is it to hire consultants or prepare annual financial statement of account?
BBI noted that it strongly believes that the rejoinder raises more questions than providing answers to the inconsistencies raised in its report adding that “We hope that the government sheds more light on this with a robust and fact based response on the questions asked.
Abdulrazaq yet to explain spendings 3months after our request – EnetSud
By Mumini AbdulKareem
Three months after it requested explanations from the Kwara State Government on how the finances of the state were being spent, a Kwara-based Civil Society Organization, Elites Network for Sustainable Development (ENetSuD), last night again lamented the altitude of the government towards the issue.
ENetSuD while drawing attention to the issue weekend through a statement titled “Transparency: Governor Abdulrahman fails to explain government spendings after three months of request” noted that it wrote the Governor through the SSG on 4th November, 2019 to provide information about some projects and updates on state funds.
The seeming silence from the Governor over the issue sharply contrasted with assurances from officials that the new administration will be open, prudent and transparent about the finances of the state.
Kwara State Coordinator of ENetSuD, Dr Abdullateef Alagbonsi in one of his responses on the issue had said the Government appeared not to be ready for transparency and accountability adding that ENetSuD will continue to exploit all lawful means to make the state accountable.
He further spoke on the non passage of FOI Law by state actors.
EnetSuD famous for its hash tag #FollowKwaraMoney activities, wrote the state government recently demanding for breakdown on the government expenditure of some projects and money so far realised from the counterpart funds it has paid to national intervention bodies on health and nutrition among others.
In the letter jointly signed by its Coordinator, Dr. Alagbonsi Abdullateef and General Secretary Mahmud Usman Baba, ENetSuD listed nine (9) projects executed by previous and current administrations in the state and requested for financial and technical details about their executions.
The projects that ENetSuD demanded it expenditure included the Geri-Alimi Split Diamond Underpass, Ilorin Water Reticulation Project, Kishi-Kaiama road (a Federal Government project being executed by Kwara State Government) and 1% Consolidated Revenue for Health Insurance.
It further demanded the spending so far of the actual amount paid for each of the counterpart funds for World Bank-funded Community and Social Development Projects, Basic Healthcare Provision, Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria and Global Access for Malaria
According to the civil group, the Governor should make available the amount received so far as grants after the payment of the counterpart funds for the projects, detailed account of how the grants have been spent, beneficiaries of the projects (to be) executed with the grants, actual amount released for each project execution, technical details and scope of each stage of funds released to each contractor handling these projects, the Bill of Quantity/Engineering Measurement and Evaluation of each project among others and detailed information of the contractor to whom each project was awarded (including phone number), current status of each and the implementation status of the statutory 1% Consolidated Revenue Fund for Kwara Health Insurance.
Part of the letter reads:
“Sir, we initiated an initiative called #FollowKwaraMoney through which we track projects in the budget of governments. We are aware of the following projects funded by Kwara State Government in the successive budgets implemented by various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs):
“It is worthy of note that the primary and second phases of Ilorin Water Reticulation Project were said to have been completed by the previous administration, while the tertiary phase provided for in the 2019 budget was supposed to be implemented by the current administration. A detailed analysis of how the amount budgeted for that phase has been spent is also required in addition to the primary and secondary phases as per the above requests, Sir”, it added.
