The 2016 Appropriation Act contains provisions for construction of Viewing
Centres, Town halls and renovation of Mosques in Bauchi State amounting to
the tune of N275 million.
Although the Federal Government has remained unmoved by calls to make
details of the budget public, OrderPaper.ng can authoritatively report
that the Act contains several mind-boggling proposals that indicate huge
padding, misplacement of priorities, and wrong imputation into Ministries,
Departments and Agencies (MDAs) that are inappropriate for implementation.
The Mosques, Town halls and Viewing Centres projects are captured in the
Act under the Federal Ministry of Works, Power, Housing where immediate
past governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola, is minister.
In one of the items entitled, “Renovation of worship centres in Gori
Mosque, Dass Central Mosque, Bununu Mosque and Lere Mosque in Bauchi
State,” the sum of N80million (Eighty million naira) was allocated to the
projects.
The other item is entitled “Construction of Viewing Centres at Nabal,
Dull, Duglum, Dutsen, Goggo, Kurumdodo, Dashem Bakin Kogi, and Gital in
Bauchi State,” has a provision of N70million (Seventy million naira)
The Town Hall projects also in Bauchi State has a provision of N125million
(One hundred and twenty-five million) for areas in Gambar, Zulla, Yamar,
Tapshin and Gambar Zugum.
The Ministry of Works, Power and Housing has the highest budgetary
allocation in the 2016 Appropriation Act which was signed on May 6 after
several months of delay and buck-passing between the Executive and
Legislature. The ministry’s budget for Capital Projects if
N422,964,928,495.
It is not clear how the renovation of Mosques and construction of Town
Halls and Viewing Centres in a State have become the business of the
Federal Government to have attracted an allocation of N275million.
Credit: OrderPaper.ng