2016 Budget: FG to Disburse Funds to Ministries from Today, Demands Monthly Implementation Report

2016 Budget: FG to Disburse Funds to Ministries from Today, Demands Monthly Implementation Report

The federal government has concluded plans to begin the disbursement of funds as approved in the 2016 budget, to ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of government on Friday, to kick off the implementation of the budget.

Minister for budget and national planning, Sen Udoma Udo Udoma while presenting a breakdown of the N6.07 trillion budget on Thursday stated that the federal government has ordered all MDAs to produce their projects’ execution reports monthly, in a bid to ensure the efficient utilisation of funds.

According to The Guardian, the minister stated that the release of capital votes to the MDAs on Friday was to ensure that the government covered lost grounds as the year was already in the middle of its second quarter. Udoma was however silent on the amount to be released.

Also at the budget breakdown were Minister of State for Budget, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, Ministers of Finance (Mrs. Kemi Adeosun); Niger Delta, (Pastor Uguru Usani); Labour (Dr. Chris Ngige) and Solid Minerals Development (Dr. Kayode Fayemi).

Although Udoma said the 2016 Appropriation Act had empowered the executive to run a full blast 12-month cycle, terminating next May 2017, the administration may reset the implementation calendar to its original plan between January and December which is the best time for projects execution.

He said: “The Federal Executive Council (FEC ) has approved an implementation strategy plan towards the path of sustainable development. Henceforth, MDAs are to produce monthly implementation reports to the Ministry of Budget and National Planning and will be collated and published on a quarterly basis on the ministry’s website. The essence of this is to ensure transparency and monitor implementation.

“We also already have in place professional independent monitoring and evaluation experts in addition to other different groups that will be tracking and evaluating the implementation of the budget to measure the funds released to MDAs and the impact such amount spent has on the people. For instance, we would like to measure the impact of a health centre that is built but not furnished and equipped with well-trained medics that should provide the services expected of the health centre.”