The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, when he appeared before the Senate Joint Committees Ethics, Appropriations, and Finance on Wednesday insisted that it would not be possible to fund the constituency projects of National Assembly members as contained in the 2016 Budget because of the paucity of funds.
Mr. Lawal had recently said the revenue accruable to the country was not enough to accommodate the projects.
“The statement is correct. That is my statement; we cannot guarantee the implementation of constituency projects in the 2016 budget,” the SGF said.
“As a government, constituency projects are championed by members of the National Assembly. Like the legislature, members of the executive are politicians who canvassed for votes.
“Government based its principle on zero budgeting this year. Funds will be released to finance key projects in line with the implementation plans of the government. I will explain why it will be hard for the government to implement the budget.”
Mr. Lawal blamed the drop in the nation’s revenue on the activities of militants in the oil-rich Niger Delta region.
According to him, the oil benchmark proposed by the government had been drastically dislocated and grossly affected by activities of militants.
He said the country was currently producing about 800,000 barrels per day.
