2014 Budget: Aviation ministry gets N15m to prepare own budget

To prepare its own budget for the new financial year, the Ministry of Aviation has been allocated a sum of N15 million in the 2014 Appropriation Bill. In the proposal, which the coordinating minister for the economy and Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala presented to the National Assembly on December 19, the aviation ministry was also given N140mn to monitor airports across the country.
The N4.91 trillion appropriation bill has been receiving flaks for being too heavy on recurrent expenditure, for which the Presidency voted N2.43 trillion, a collosal 72.71 per cent of the total figure. Capital projects got N1.1 trillion, representing 27.29 per cent.
Part of the recurrent expenditure is the N483 million budgeted for President Goodluck Jonathan for “Miscellaneous”, while his deputy, Vice-President Namadi Sambo will be spending N109mn for the same purpose.
The Ministry of Power, whose scope has been extensively reduced with the conclusion, this year, of the privatisation of many generation and distribution companies hitherto under its purview, was allocated N46mn to buy newspapers and periodicals. Despite the privatisation, the Presidency retains the Presidential Task Force on Power and has voted N1bn for its use.
The federal government hopes to complement the efforts of the new owners of the privatised firms with a Ministry of Power programme it has labelled “Electrifying  (Light Up) Nigeria” for which it has budgeted N1.4bn. The Ministry was also allocated N300mn for “data integration for power sector,”
The federal government has proposed to give the Power Ministry the sum of N100mn to mobilise public support for government’s reform of the power sector, as it intends to bankroll “advocacy and awareness for successor companies” with another N150mn.
For the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), the Presidency has proposed a sum of N3.5bn for the purchase of furniture/fittings, security equipment and miscellaneous. Of the N12.236bn total allocation of the SGF Office, the total recurrent vote is N5.85bn (N3.090bn for total personnel and N2.760bn for total overhead), while its total capital is N6.385bn.
Details of the vote show that next year, the Office, headed by Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, will spend N1.161bn on the purchase of security equipment, N500.320mn on the purchase of office furniture/fittings, N1.775bn on miscellaneous and N5.666mn on the maintenance of office furniture.
A breakdown of the miscellaneous shows that the headquarters will spend N1.223bn on welfare packages, N19.783mn on refreshment and meals, N65.944mn on honorarium and sitting allowance, N26.377mn on publicity and advertisements, N29.675mn on medical expenses, N3.094 mn on postages and courier services, and N367.715mn on subscription to professional bodies, as well as N19.489mn each on sporting activities and recruitment/appointment.
Further details of the budget indicate that the president also wants the two chambers of the National Assembly to approve a sum of N76.201mn for the SGF Office’s local and international travels, N124.684mn for utilities (electrical charges, telephone charges, water rates and sewage charges) and N318.383mn for security services and cleaning/fumigation services.
The SGF Office is also proposed to spend N114.641mn on the supply of books, N73.632mn on stationeries/computer consumables, N10.820mn on magazines & periodicals, N13.188mn on security documents printing and N6.594mn on teaching aids/instructional materials.
In addition, the SGF Office headquarters will spend a sum of N68.310mn on training, with local training gulping N56.688mn and international training, N11.642mn.
Other proposals in the budgetary allocation of the SGF Office include N200mn for the purchase of residential buildings; purchase of motor cycles, N900,000; motor vehicles, N70mn; buses, N114mn; computers, N52.8mn; computer printers, N16.5mn; photocopying machines, N35mn; shredding machines, N5.625mn; scanners, N15mn; power generating set, N14.350mn; library books & equipment, N150mn; and sporting/gaming equipment, N50.073mn.
While the SGF Office will splash a sum of N2.15bn on the rehabilitation/repairs of office buildings, another N920mn will be spent on the construction/provision of its fixed assets (N800mn for office building and N120mn for infrastructure).