Date Published: 09/26/09

Civil Servants, Lawmakers behind low budget implementation

As the slow pace of implementation of the 200 budget continues to attract criticisms a group,  African-American Minorities Educational Foundation (AAMEF), has alleged that civil servants and federal lawmakers are responsible for the non-implementation of most of the capital projects captured in the 2009 budget.

The AAMF  International Vice President, Dr. Denis Chikere told newsmen In Abuja on Monday that most of the funds already released by the federal government to Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDA) for capital projects were lodged as special placements  in various banks by the top civil servants after negotiating special interest rate with the banks.

“We have it on good authority that the funds are there, they (civil servants) have decided to turn the money around just like what the banks were doing with round-tripping before the former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Charles Soludo, intervened through recapitalization of the banks.

“In MDAs the Permanent Secretaries, Director Generals and their Directors are busy allocating funds meant for the execution of capital projects to banks in the name of fund placement below the prevailing interest rate, roll the money over several months and they share the excess interest at the end of every month among themselves at the top management level”.

He claimed that most of the lawmakers at the National Assembly who carry out oversight functions in the MDA are aware of this development but chose to turn blind eye to it because they are also benefitting from the racket .

While maintaining that all the ministries, Department and Agencies  are involved in the scam, Dr. Chikere declared that the top echelon of the civil service adopted this system to circumvent investigations by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the ICPC.

“If you ask them they will tell you that the money is there, that they did not touch it because they know EFCC and ICPC will come after them if the divert it to themselves but they have now found a way of beating the EFCC and ICPC through placement of capital project money in banks”.

Dr. Chikere, who is also the President of the African Zone of AAMF and businessman further declared that civil servants have devised various means of circumventing and frustrating the award of contracts for capital projects which they used as alibi to keep these funds in the banks and eventually return them to the federal government coffers as unspent funds at the end of the year.

He absolved President Musa Yar’Adua of blame in the slow implementation of the budget stressing that some of the Ministers are not even aware of the antics of the civil servants in their ministries.

“”That is not a problem of the President, he has done what he has to do, he is not working alone, he has subordinates and though he is the head of the house he cannot be at the in the kitchen and be found in the laundry and he cannot he in the laundry and be found in the dinning at the same time.

“Who are the implementers of the budget , it is the civil servants. Some of the Ministers are ignorant of what is happening. A minister can sit down and they (civil servants) will play him out with his two eyes open”.

Dr. Chikere also disclosed that most of the MDA have jettison due process in the award of contracts and where contracts are awarded the due process mechanism is put in place long after the contracts have been awarded.

“A lot of due process is being breached by the civil servants, I have been a victim of bye-passing of due process by a Commission where at least three major contracts were discovered to have been awarded already at the pre-qualification stage”.

He said the Due Process office was informed of this breach and has since ordered the Commission to suspend further implementation of the wrongly awarded contract.

By-MIKE ODIAKOSE