Government releases over 50% vote for capital projects
Nigeria seeks $125m World Bank loan to fight polio
Government has released over 50 percent capital vote to ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).
Speaking at the 15th meeting of the Joint Planning Board and National Council on Development in Kano, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo said the administration placed high priority on infrastructural development.
Osinbajo reiterated that, for the nation to achieve the needed structural development and sustainable development, efforts must be directed towards national structural planning.
The Vice President maintained that strategic planning generally provides direction, coherence and coordination and is a veritable framework for guiding the activities of all stakeholders towards achieving a common goal.
According to him, strategic planning for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) requires effective and efficient partnership as provided in goal 17, which emphasised the need for partnering with states to get the needed economic development.
The short-term strategic implementation plan, he said, was done to guide the implementation of the 2016 budget. He also stated that government accorded priority to agriculture for self-sufficiency and food security.
Meanwhile, due to fresh outbreak of poliomyelitis in the country, the Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole, yesterday said Nigeria was seeking a $125million loan from the World Bank for provision of enough vaccines against the epidemic and other communicable diseases.
Also, government has released the N9.8 billion vote for that purpose in the 2016 budget.
The minister disclosed this before the Senate Committee on Primary Health Care and Communicable diseases, stressing that the loan facility became essential because of the high cost of polio vaccines.
He explained that $60million out of the $125million loan facility would be used for vaccination against polio alone in six rounds while the remaining $65million would be used for preventive vaccination against outbreak of any other communicable diseases.
He explained that comprehensive curtailment plan against polio had been put in place by the Ministry out of which 800, 000, children under the age of five in five local government of Borno State, have been immunized against the virus.
The committee chairman, Senator Mao Ohuabunwa (PDP Abia North), assured the minister and other health agencies of the Senate’s support in the discharge of their duties.
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1 Comments
ACCOUNTABILITY raises its head again. How to we track the utilisation of the 50% vote released and ensure that it is been utilized for the purposes intended. Afterall, for over 55 years we have been releasing budget votes for some ministries that exceeded the total budgets of some European countries, and have nothing to show for it. Should each Federal ministry, state ministry and local government and parastatal not publish its intended targets and deadlines, completed targets together with details of contractors, costs comparism (budget & actual) and time frame and other records on a monthly basis so that for instance (example only) if Apapa Local government was to have repaired Rycroft road, and was alloted funds for that, the public could react immediately with disclaimers if the work was not done. It may sound like a lot of work but civil society would be involved in the nation building process. Maybe its time we police ourselves. I don’t know. I’m not an economic genius but something has to be done to ensure that monies given out are spent on what they are supposed to be spent on, and we the public for whom it is being spent must be able to see that it is being done.
We will review and take appropriate action.