Following the inability of many ministries and agencies to conclude their procurement process until the last quarter of this year, the Federal Government may extend the implementation of capital projects components in the 2021 Appropriation Act till next year.
The heads of the MDAs who appeared before the Senate standing committees for their 2021 budget performances, blamed their inability to execute their capital projects on the outright ban placed on the procurement process from January to May 31.
The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, told the Senate Committee on the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency that the Federal Government issued a circular to delay the implementation of capital components in the 2021 budget till May 31, this year.
He said, “FERMA, like other MDAs, got circulars that delayed and deferred commencement of the implementation of the 2021 budget till May 31.
“To get a clear picture of the delay in procurement, the committee should begin its reckoning from June.
“This means that the budget has run essentially for five months in real-time this year, not for 11 months.”
Investigations by our correspondent indicated that most of them did not achieve up to 70 percent implementation of their capital projects, one month to the end of the year.
Responding to the development in an interview with our correspondent in Abuja, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriation, Senator Barau Jibrin, confirmed the development.
He, however, said the Federal Government circular was issued based on the poor implementation of the capital components of the 2020 budget, occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic.
