WE WILL CONSIDER YOUR 2013 BUDGET PERFORMANCE: HOUSE TELLS MINISTRIES, DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES

by AIT / 4 years ago / Nation Science and Tech

The Chairman House Committee on Science and Technology, Akinlade Abiodun says the 2014 budget allocations to ministries, departments and agencies will be based on their 2013 performance.

He stated this during the committee’s interactive session on the 2014 budget in Abuja.

The budget defence session was to enable the lawmakers find out the extent which the Ministries, Departments and Agencies intend to put to use their budgetary allocations.

He said, "We are going to consider your 2013 budget performance, because what people are saying today is hardly can they see the work of the agencies outreach".

The committee however sought to know what the agencies did with the 2013 budgetary allocations and the challenges they faced.

Muniru Abiodun, a Committee Member said, "All of these things we are going to be distributing funds to are things that the private sector people are doing. I don't know why we are taking it as if it is something out of this world, yes, your mandate in your agency is for you to develop that sector for us, and developing that sector you should be able to give us other measures and other means of achieving the same goal"

Umar Bindiri, Director General, National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP), in his presentation said, "From January to December, every month consistently we have been given 4,768487 naira, a total of 57,221,844. One of the thing things with NOTAP, the brand we carry is that we are the least funded organisation in this ministry, and we try to use it to the best of application. This is the total overheard, and all our overheard goes through the payments one hundred percent".

Acting Director General, National Biotechnology Agency, Lucy Ogbadu, said, "All that we have been able to do have all been within the last three to four years, and we started on a virgin ground, not a single structure was on ground when we got to our permanent site, so we have been busy putting infrastructure in place".

Some of the government agencies which appeared at the budget defence include National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure, Energy Commission of Nigeria, National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion, National Space Research and Development Agency amongst others.