Fiscal Responsibility Commission to embark on project verification from Nov.6
NAN-HE-6
Project
Abuja, Nov. 4, 2016 (NAN) The Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC) on Friday said it would embark on physical verification exercise of 50 Federal Government capital projects across the six geopolitical zones in the country.
The Acting Chairman of the commission, Mr Victor Muruako, said the exercise was a core mandate of the commission aimed at ensuring prudent and transparent usage of the nation’s resources.
Muruako said that it had been observed that most projects carried out were poorly executed, mostly abandoned and in some cases not in line with the context of the original project.
He said after careful study of the budget implementation reports in the country, the commission decided to embark on verification of capital projects which according to him began in 2012.
On the challenges of verifying projects, Muruako said that most ministries, departments and agencies of government were not complying with the FOI Act, thus making the work difficult for the commission.
He appealed to such agencies to give their support to FRC, saying that henceforth it would not be business as usual as un-cooperating agencies would be made to face the law.
Muruako urged citizens in various communities to take advantage of Section 51 of the FRC Act which empowered citizens to invoke the provisions of the Act without showing any special interest.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Section 51 of the Act states that“ a person shall have legal capacity to enforce the provisions of this Act by obtaining prerogative order or other remedies at the Federal High Court without having to show any special or particular interest.’’
Muruako said:“ these projects should be owned by the citizens of the country; it is your duty as a citizen to ensure that the contractors abide by the terms of the project.
“ You need to ask questions; you can even write to the commission and lay your complaints because if you do nothing, it is not in your interest as citizens and it is very unfortunate.
“ Government at this level has done a lot to reach various segments of the communities, what is absent is proper execution of the project.
“ If we come out and own the projects, the contractors and MDAs will improve, so let us secure government projects, properties and stop colluding with contractors to reap off the people.
Muruako said that N21,230 million was allocated to the commission in 2016, which he said, was not close to what was required to run the commission.
He thanked the government for its move towards amending the FRC Act and expressed optimism that the amendment would help the commission better carry out its duty.
Earlier, Alhaji Moshood Olatunji, Head, Monitoring and Evaluation, FRC, said the projects for the exercise was selected from the Ministries of Works, Water Resources, Niger Delta Affairs, Health and Agriculture.
“The projects were selected on the basis of non-continuous reporting in Budget Implementation Reports and follow up on earlier projects visited.
“Details of the projects were obtained from the MDAs and to facilitate a hitch free and effective inspection, the MDAs have provided guides to accompany the various teams to the projects.
“The commission expects that the observations and findings of the current verification exercise will go a long way in addressing the challenges in capital budget implementation
“This is with a view to improve quality of project execution and value for money,’’ Olatunji said.
On the objectives of the programme, he said it would determine whether funds expended were commensurate with what was on ground and physically verify the existence of projects.
“It will determine attainment of financial and physical targets, find out challenges in the execution of projects and suggest improvements where necessary.
“To encourage the citizenry to take keen interest in budget implementation, especially capital projects located within their areas.
“ It will also create more awareness on the responsibilities and duties of the commission with regard to proper planning and prudent management of government resources. (NAN)
LCN/TA
Edited by Tajudeen Atitebi