The committee threatened to recommend the scrapping of some agencies over uncompleted projects and discrepancies in budget presentation
The House of Representatives committee on science and engineering has expressed dissatisfaction with the performance of some government agencies, warning that it may recommend their scrapping if they fail to meet their mandates.
The committee, chaired by Rep. Inuwa Garba (PDP Gombe), made the threaat during a budget defense session with the Director-General of the Sheda Science and Technology Complex (SHESTCO), Mr. Paul Onyenekwe, and other officials.
The chairman threatened that the committee would recommend to the House to scrap some agencies in line with the Steve Oronsanye report which recommended government down-sizing.
Garba criticised the recurring issues of uncompleted projects and discrepancies in budget presentations by various agencies, describing their performance as unsatisfactory.
“Most of their budgets are just repetition, and to an extent, some don’t even want anybody to know what they are doing,” Garba said.
He further stated, “Though some agencies are very relevant and supportive of government policies, we cannot overlook these discrepancies. As a committee, we will present our position and proposals to the House soon to help the government and the country.”
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On the agencies that may affected, he said: “I will not say it now because we are yet to come to a final conclusion. But when we finish, we can call the agencies, call the head of the agencies and say why and how we are making that recommendation.
“A lot of abnormalities is happening in most of the agencies. You can see one budget is repeated 5, 6, 7 years. The money is increasing, some they will say it’s completed and before, in another way they say completion.
“Another year, completion. And they are putting in money. If you go in the same position, the same project, the same agency, only the amount that differs, the same contractor.
“So, honestly, I can’t say I’m comfortable for now. But what we have seen, a lot needs to be done in the budget and procurement process in our agencies, ministries and parastatals, so that we can be able to come up with something that will help the government and the people of this country,”
In his comments, Mr. Paul Onyenekwe, attributed the agency’s challenges to the envelope budgeting system adopted by the federal government. He explained that this system limits the agency’s capacity to complete ongoing projects in Adamawa, Taraba, Bauchi, and Gombe states.
“The envelope system of budgeting is to be blamed for the non-completion of key projects by the agency. The 2024 budget of the agency was N1.2 billion, which was used for operationalizing centers and paying staff emoluments,” Onyenekwe stated.
On the 2024 budget review, he said that the agency got N69,569,607,924 00 as capital, N1,007,665.,803 00 as personnel and N382,552.074.00 as overhead cost.
He added that the agency had constructed staff quarters to address issues of accessibility for employees commuting from remote areas. He also stated that they had embarked on construction of drainages and culverts in four northern states of the country namely Adamawa, Taraba, Bauchi and Gombe states.nt.
About Oronsaye Report
The Steve Oronsaye Report, submitted in 2012, aimed to restructure Nigeria’s federal agencies to enhance efficiency and reduce bureaucratic redundancy.
