The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Malam Muhammad Musa Bello has presented the FCT 2021 Statutory Budget proposal in the sum of ₦299,963,491,522.46 to the Senate Committee on FCT.
A breakdown of the total expenditure shows that total recurrent expenditure is ₦136,312,350,743.21 while capital expenditure is ₦163,651,140,779.25 respectively.
Also, the sum of N74,523,382,813.15 is proposed as Personal costs while overhead costs is ₦61,788,967,930.06 respectively.
Equally, the sum of ₦136,312,350,743.21 representing 54.56% is proposed as capital expenditure for the year 2021, which is for the development of infrastructure with emphasis on completion of ongoing projects.
Out of the proposed capital expenditure, the sum of ₦78,793,795,841.00 is dedicated to the completion of the ongoing Abuja Light Rail projects and other counterpart funded related projects aimed at enhancing socioeconomic activities of the FCT.
FCDA
Similarly, the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) is allocated the sum of ₦26.7 billion and Satellite Towns Development Department (STDD) the sum of ₦17.7 billion.
SDAs
Also, other SDAs were allocated the cumulative sum of ₦40,903,488,220.00 for their capital expenditure in order to address critical areas like ongoing road construction, water treatment plan and related facilities but with new projects.
Presenting the Budget estimates to the Senate, Bello revealed that the 2021 budget preparation aligned with the federal government budget parameters, as well as took into consideration assumptions for the 2021 national budget.
Bello added that the budget proposal has also taken into account the estimated revenue accruing to the FCT through the federation account and recognises other in-house efforts to boost revenue generation capacities in FCT.
He explained that the focus of the capital budget is mainly on completion of ongoing projects that have high impact on service delivery to the FCT residents.
He disclosed that a fiscal framework of the sum of ₦299,963,491,522.46 comprising distributable revenue of N215,951,023,735.00 and non-distributable revenue of ₦84,012,467,787.46 have been proposed for the FCT 2021 statutory budget after due consultations with all revenue generating agencies of the FCTA.
According to him, there is an increase of the sum of ₦100,722,960,173.00 (34%) in the 2021 budget proposal, when compared with the revised 2020 appropriation of the sum of ₦199,240,531,350.00.
Road rehabilitation
Furthermore, the Minister revealed that the sum of ₦7.5 billion is earmarked for the expansion and rehabilitation of seven major roads in 2021 in order to speed up their completion before the end of the fiscal year.
Infrastructure development
He added that the sum of ₦17.7 billion is proposed for infrastructural development in the Satellite Towns, of which the key projects are; engineering infrastructure to Kubwa, Bwari, Karshi, Wasa and extension of Karshi-Apo Road.
Bello thanked the committee for the opportunity provided to the FCT Administration to defend its 2021 statutory budget proposal and expressed conviction that with legislative and moral support, the development of the nation’s capital city to its envisaged status of a modern city comparable to any in the world will be achieved.
Budget implementation
Chairman of the Senate committee, Senator Abubakar Kyari, said the committee will ensure the full implementation of the budget, through its oversight functions to ensure effective service delivery to the residents of the FCT.
He however reiterated that the FCT Minister should ensure that budget proposal should henceforth be presented on or before September of the preceding year for proper and efficient deliberation and implementation.
Some of the critical projects to be executed by the FCT Administration in the 2021 statutory budget proposal are; rehabilitation and expansion of outer southern expressway, expansion and extension of inner southern expressway, construction of southern Parkway from Christian Centre, B6 B12, Reconstruction of and dualisation of Lower Usuma Dam-Gurara Road, construction of access roads for Abuja Light Rail stations and resurfacing of existing roads.
Sector allocations
Sector highlights of the FCT 2021 statutory budget proposal show that while transportation sector has a provision of ₦83,444,323,037.00 as capital budget for year 2021, FCT education sector has a budgetary proposal of the sum of ₦42,789,238,146.00.
Similarly, the FCT health sector has a proposal of the sum of ₦26,410,117,719.00, out of which the sum of ₦23,815,435,005.00 is for recurrent expenditure, which includes the sum of ₦1.3 billion for drug revolving fund and the sum of ₦1.2 billion for expenses on Covid-19 while the sum of ₦2,594,682,714.00 is for capital expenditure.
The environmental sector has a proposal of the sum of ₦5,916,313,777.00 while the sum of ₦5,910,859,488.00 is proposed for water sector.
On the other hand, the sum of ₦8,376,687,200.00 is proposed for FCT Agric and Rural Development Sector whereas the sum of ₦6,601,276,065.00 is earmarked for the social development sector.
Furthermore, while the Legal Services Secretariat has a proposal of the sum of ₦1,264,838,146.00, the Abuja Geographic Information Systems (AGIS) has the sum of ₦1,466,841,123.00 as its proposal in the 2021 Statutory Budget; with the sum of ₦4,188,127,223.00 proposed for Area Council Services Secretariat (ACSS) and it’s departments.
The FCT Statutory Budget is funded from a combination of one percent of the 52.68% statutory allocation of the federal government from the federation account, Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) efforts and other sources as contained in the Revenue Fiscal framework for the execution of recurrent and capital expenditure in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Nneka Ukachukwu
