The slash in the Federal Government ’ s budget by about N 321bn would mostly affect projects to be implemented in the Niger -Delta, North – East, basic education, healthcare and other sectors of the economy.

The executive arm of government had on Wednesday sent a revised budget proposal to the National Assembly following a drop in crude oil prices which was caused by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

In the revised proposal of the executive to the National Assembly , about N 321bn is being projected to be cut.

On the expenditure side , the executive is proposing a reduction of about N 321bn in spending from the initial estimate of N 10 . 59tn to N 10 . 27 tn.

An analysis of the executive proposal showed that the Niger – Delta Delta Development Commission suffered a huge cut of about N 51 . 36 bn from the N 80. 88 bn initially signed into law by the President to N 29 . 52 bn.

Statistics from the website of the NDDC showed that the commission had about 3 ,335 projects in the Niger – Delta region , while 1 , 403 projects had just been awarded.

For the North – East Development Commission , analysis of the revised budget proposal showed that the commission suffered a N 24 . 03 bn reduction in its allocation.

The commission saw its allocation reduced by 63 . 07 per cent from N 38 . 1 bn in the initially approved budget to N 14 . 07 bn.
The NEDC is the focal organisation charged with the responsibility to assess , coordinate , harmonise and report on all intervention programmes , and initiatives by the Federal Government for the North East states ; Adamawa , Bauchi, Borno , Gombe , Taraba and Yobe , respectively.

In the same vein , the Federal Government is proposing a cut of N 50 . 76 bn in the allocation of the UBEC from the initial N 111. 78 bn to N 61 . 02 bn.

Further analysis showed that there is a reduction in the basic healthcare fund by N 26 . 51 bn from N 44 . 49bn to N 17 . 98 bn.
Similarly , the proposal stated that the Federal Government was planning to reduce anniversaries/ celebrations by N 3 . 08 bn , computer software N 3 . 14 bn , office buildings N 24 . 86 bn , residential buildings N 479. 6 m, monitoring and evaluation N 10 . 8 bn , land acquisition N 1 . 45bn , computers N 1 . 9bn , purchase of motor vehicles N 5. 25 bn , and office furniture N 3 . 94bn.

Others are rehabilitation of office building N 49 . 52 bn , repair of residential buildings N 1 . 07 bn , research and development N 45 . 6 bn , provision of roads N 1 . 96 bn , provision of water facilities N 650m, provision of waterways N 650m, repair of public schools N 330 . 85m, and purchase of generators N 555 . 96 m.

There is also a reduction of N 176. 5m on purchase of motorcycles , computer printers N 151 . 48 m, photocopying machines N 131. 46 m, purchase of trucks N 134 . 46 m, purchase of buses N 485 . 78 m and purchase of scanners N 193 . 74 m.

The document also said there would be a reduction in road repairs by N 120 m, repairs of public school N 330 . 8m, gaming equipment N 100m, provision of agricultural facilities N 180m, and purchase of vans N 216. 2 m.

Source:- Punchng