Work, the finance ministries inflated our budget by $ 11 billion, the head of the FARM tells representatives.
FERMA’s Managing Director, Mr Nurudin Rafindadi, on Thursday shocked House FERMA committee members led by Representative Richard Femi Bamiz (APC Ekiti), who heads finance ministries and Jobs and Housing increased their 2021 budget more than 11 billion
Committee member Yusuf Haji asked the head of FERMA why their budget suddenly increased by more than $ 11 billion.
He said: “Until now, we have the honor to know your budget proposal to the ministry, that before it reaches the National Assembly, it has changed from twenty-something billion to thirty-something billion.
“I respectfully want you to touch on this aspect. You are in charge of FERMA, why did it go up before the proposal reached the National Assembly?
“If it was increased, confirm us now, if it has not been increased, confirm us. And if it was increased, who is responsible for increasing what you defended during the inter-agency defense; and coming to the National Assembly, and more than $ 11 billion has been increased in the proposal you presented earlier. We want confirmation from you. “
The FERMA chief, in response to a question, said: “Our budget proposal, as it stands, has been sent to the Federal Ministry of Labor. The reason is that FERMA is an agency run by the Federal Ministry of Labor. We are represented in the Cabinet of Ministers by the Honorary Minister of Labor.
“Our budget is in the envelope of the ministry, so the ministry is asked to submit its budget in this package, and it includes the budgets of the departments within the ministry, of which FERMA is a part. We then receive instructions to submit our budget through the ministry of labor that we gave them.
“And yes, that’s right, we submit our budget to the ministry, what happens next between the ministry, then the ministry of finance, budget and national planning, until it gets into the House of Representatives. We know what was in our budget only after filing. Since then, we have received the FERMA budget submitted to the National Assembly, and as you said, we analyzed the differences between the two budgets. ”
Previously, committee members did not allow the agency to submit a budget for 2021 due to non-fulfillment of the 2020 budget.
The decision to allow or disallow the submission of the 2021 budget tore the committee members apart, sparking lengthy debate among members.
The agency’s managing director, Mr. Nurudin Rafindadi, and his management team were excluded from the session as participants discussed important issues among themselves.
Members stated during the discussion that the agency was irresponsible and did not fulfill its core mandate.
Some participants said they called the CEO to warn him of the dire state of some streets and refused to answer their calls.
In addition, they said that strange articles were seen in the FERMA budget regarding palliative measures against COVID-19, which made participants think they were related to road maintenance.
In addition, committee members stated that the relevant budget documents were submitted in the morning, several hours before the meeting, which made it impossible for members to review the agency’s budget.
Attempts by the chairman of the committee to prevail over the members on the grounds that time was short and the budget needed to be approved in a timely manner were rejected by the member, with the result that the committee proceeded to a private meeting on the next line of action. …
As a result, the head of the FERMA and his team were called. But lawmakers agreed to reschedule the budget hearing for next week for a thorough review.
Source: – The Nation