The Senate Committee on Solid Minerals, Mine, Steel Development and Metallurgy has accused President Muhammadu Buhari’s government of being out of tune with realities in the country.
It said the Federal government, by its “meagre budgetary allocation” to the sector, lacks the knowledge of what it ought to do, to diversify the country’s economy.
Chairman of the Committee and former Nasarawa State governor, Tanko Al-Makura (APC Nasarawa South), lambasted the budget by the Ministry of Solid Minerals and Steel Development, insisting that “the yearly ritual called budget is garbage in, garbage out, which will not take the country anywhere as far as diversification is concerned.
“The type of budgeting process being carried out in this country over the years is stereotypic one. It is wrong for the budget to be conceptualized in the ministry, enveloped and forward to the National Assembly for approval “.
The Senator representing Kogi West, Smart Adeyemi tolled Al-Makura’s position when he spoke to journalists on the sideline of the committee’s interface with ministry officials that the N23.4billion 2022 budget estimates were “grossly inadequate and a clear indication that the federal government was not in tune with the realities on ground.”
Presenting the budget before the Committee of the Upper Chamber earlier, the Minister of State (Mines and Steel), Dr Uchechukwu Sampson Ogah, gave a breakdown of the figure, noting that out of the N23.4billion budget profile for the Ministry in 2022, N10billion is for personnel cost, N1.47billion for overhead cost and N11billion for capital Projects.
However, Senator Adeyemi queried “how on Earth would a Minister propose N82billion for procurement of Mosquitoes net and a sector as important as the Solid Minerals, given N10 or N11billion?” he fumed.
“Ajaokuta Iron and Steel Complex that can give jobs to about 50, 000 Nigerians is lying fallow in a country with an army of unemployed youths who can stage Revolution at any time.
“Nigeria is bleeding from this envelope form of budgeting riddled with repetition of line items and allocations on yearly basis.
“Government may be building infrastructure but building infrastructure is not as good as creating wealth through diversification of the economy.
“The best way of doing this is to remove whatever bottleneck hindering continuation of work on Ajaokuta Steel complex and get it completed “, he said
But the Minister in his response said envelope budgeting was not the creation of the ministry as it affects other government agencies.
“My appeal to you distinguished Senators on the current model of budgeting is for the National Assembly to seek the attention of the President.