MDAs may delay disbursement of N350bn economy stimulation fund

The Federal Government on Tuesday insisted that the N350 billion earmarked for capital projects in the second quarter of the year can only be accessed by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) with development plans.

The earlier thoughts on the provision of the fund was to demonstrate government's commitment to ensure a 100 per cent implementation of the budget despite its late signing.

This thinking may be frustrated by the MDAs as the Federal Government's resolve to achieve a 100 per cent implementation is being hampered by their inability to come up with their respective development plans except the Ministry of Power which has presented its development plan.

To ensure that the fund trickles down to the grassroots and create employment for Nigerians, the government had made it clear to the MDAs that part of the conditions to award contracts was that the money would not be used to pay expatriate workers in the construction companies.

Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, had in March this year, promised that the N350 billion stimulation fund to be spent mostly on capital projects and job creation.

Addressing newsmen in Abuja, Adeosun said, “we are already discussing with some of the contractors who will be paid these monies and the objectives from the overall criteria is how many Nigerians would be re-engaged. We are specifically looking at contractors who have laid off staff and how many Nigerians are you going to put back to work as a result of this money we are planning to release. We believe this would bring significant economic activity.”

According to her, the plan of the government was that there was a need to bring in more cost efficiency in the operations of government, specifically the setting up of an efficiency unit within the state governments, to rationalise expenditure and to increase Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).