FG releases N280bn for 2016 capital projects

The Federal Government has announced the release of N280 billion for the implementation of capital projects that were captured in the 2016 budget.

The money is said to be part of the N380 billion the federal government had earlier promised to release for capital projects.

This was stated on Tuesday by the Minister of States for Budget and Planning, Hajia Zainab Ahmed, who added that six key ministries – Works, Housing and Power, Agriculture, Interior, Education, Information and Environment, have been captured in the first phase of the funds.

The released funds are however for projects that had already been scrutinized and ongoing.

According to the minister, who spoke at a one day workshop for the review and implementation of the 2016 budget in Abuja, the names of 60 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) have been sent to the Federal Ministry of Finance for approval.

Ahmed also hinted that government would not release money for any new project but only for those that are ongoing, adding that the names of another batch of about 30 MDAs where the screening process had been concluded would be sent to the finance ministry on Wednesday.

She said: “The release of the N350 billion is ongoing but of course, as I presented, we were not releasing budgets based on one quarter allocation. We needed to scrutinize the process. It took some time but we have sent about N280 billion for projects that have been scrutinized.

“As I said earlier on, the release will be done for specific projects. Our concentration was on projects that are ongoing, except for a few exceptional circumstances; we are not releasing funds for any new projects.
“We have reviewed their projects, approved them and have sent them to the ministry of finance.”

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