The Federal Government will spend the sum of N94.5 million to purchase
\nbullet-proof tyres for the use of President Muhammadu Buhari and others in
\nthe 2017 fiscal year, Permanent Secretary, State House, Jalal A. Arabi,
\nhas said.<\/p>\n
The purchase of canteen and Kitchen equipment on the other hand will gulp
\nN100.8 million.<\/p>\n
This is contained in the break-down of the State House 2017 budget
\npresented by Arabi to the Senate Committee on Federal Character and
\nInter-Governmental Affairs.<\/p>\n
The number of treated (bullet-proof) tyres that will be purchased with
\nN94.5 million was however unspecified.
\nThe Permanent Secretary told the committee that a total sum of N94.5
\nmillion is proposed for 2017 representing 50% of the actual sought for in
\n2016.<\/p>\n
He noted that they expected that the amount will address the shortfall and
\ncompliment the requirement of \u201cthe sector which are mostly treated tyres
\nprocured at exorbitant price.\u201d<\/p>\n
On why the tyres should be purchased at \u201cexorbitant price\u201d Arabi explained
\nthat \u201csome of the tyres being purchased are actually treated
\n(bullet-proof)\u201d and hence constituted the bulk of the purchase cost.<\/p>\n
On canteen and kitchen equipment, Arabi said that the sum of N100.8
\nmillion was provided for in the 2017 proposal for the items.<\/p>\n
He added, \u201cThis amount is principally the un-released appropriation for
\n2016 which was the unpaid balance in 2015 for contracts awarded and
\nexecuted. The sum of N80.2million appropriated in 2016 has up to this
\nmoment not been released hence its roll over and inclusion in 2017.\u201d<\/p>\n
He noted that it was important to mention that the proposal covered
\nkitchen equipment in the main residence, VP residence, banquet hall, State
\nHouse medical centre, State House auditorium and 22 other guest houses.
\nOn electricity charges, he said that N45.3 million was approved in the
\n2016 budget for the purpose.<\/p>\n
He said that the State House electricity bill for 2016 alone as forwarded
\nby Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) for State House Abuja was
\nN252 million with another outstanding liability of over N300 million for
\nState House, Lagos facilities.<\/p>\n
He noted that the provision in the 2016 budget could not accommodate the
\noutstanding liability.<\/p>\n
He said that the management of the State House was forced to install
\nmeters in 2016 to ensure proper billing \u201cand that was what reduced the
\nbill to a reasonable figure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arabi said that since the bills were currently subject of reconciliation
\n\u201cwe have made a modest provision of the sum of N319.6 million for 2017 to
\nsettle current and part of outstanding bills as noted above.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said that other outstanding bills will be captured in 2018 proposals.<\/p>\n
Arabi said that a \u201cmodest provision of N4.9 billion\u201d was made for annual
\nroutine maintenance of Villa facilities for the 2017 fiscal year.<\/p>\n
He said that they considered some factors including exchange rate and
\ninflation trends before coming up with the provision.<\/p>\n
He said, \u201cThe services under this heading are very wide and vary. For
\ninstance in 2016 alone, our analysis indicated a consumption of about 123
\ntrailers (about 4million liters) of diesel in the State House Power House
\nalone and which falls under this arrangement. This gives a conservative
\nestimate of almost N900 million on diesel consumption alone. This would
\nrise higher in 2017 unless drastic measures are taken to lower the price
\nof diesel and improve power supply in 2017.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arabi said that another major contributing factor to the rising cost was
\nthe undetermined nature of unscheduled works that come at the instance of
\n\u201cour principals.\u201d<\/p>\n
He noted that the facilities covered under the maintenance arrangement
\nincluded but not limited to maintenance of electrical\/mechanical
\ninstallations, building and civil infrastructure in President\/VP
\nresidences and offices, President\/VP safe houses, banquet hall, council
\nchambers, State House conference center, Villa administrative block,
\npresidential and ministerial chalets as well as Airport lounges.<\/p>\n
The Permanent Secretary said that the sum of N52.8 million was provided
\nfor sewerage charges in 2017.<\/p>\n
He said that the bills received from Abuja Environmental Protection Board
\n(AEPB) for liquid waste disposal for the State House for 2016 is N15.6
\nmillion with outstanding liabilities of previous years standing at N37.5
\nmillion totaling N52.8 million.<\/p>\n
He noted that the figure remained consistent over the years which informed
\nthe provision of the same amount in the sum of N52.8million in 2017.<\/p>\n
Arabi said that the position was the same sought for in 2016 proposal \u201cbut
\nonly a paltry sum of N6.1 million was appropriated.<\/p>\n
He said that they have already commenced negotiation with AEPB to arrive
\nat a mutually acceptable charges henceforth.<\/p>\n
The Permanent Secretary put the sum of N5.08 billion as the total sum of
\noverhead expenditure.<\/p>\n
Chairman of the committee, Senator Tijjani Kaura said that the State House
\nMedical centre should be properly funded by the center does not serve the
\nPresidential Villa alone but provides services for outsiders.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Federal Government will spend the sum of N94.5 million to purchase bullet-proof tyres for the use of President Muhammadu Buhari and others in the 2017 fiscal year, Permanent Secretary,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":54368,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n