FG is broke, Udoma tells Reps

By Odunewu Segun

The federal government is broke, so says the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udoma

Udoma disclosed this on Thursday while fielding questions from members of the House of Representatives. He said half of the projected revenue in the 2017 budget is for salaries and pensions, but that the funds are actually available.

He said the federal government had been making efforts to solve issues relating to the welfare of workers and retirees, revealing that a committee had been set up to address the issues.

The minister said the government would have to look for ways for creating funds to pay pension arrears.

“I ask for your understanding. In the 2017 budget, about half of our total projected revenues are for salaries and pensions but the resources are not there. Most of these categories are up to date, however there have been issues with reconciliation of the numbers,” Udoma said.

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According to him, the President is extremely concerned about this, and has directed minister to get to the bottom of this as quickly as possible and a committee headed by the minister of finance to mandated to meet all the relevant agencies in reconciling the numbers.

Kemi Adeosun, minister of finance, said though the problem of appropriation may not be sorted out in one year, the issue of pensions must be addressed.

“This is a welcome initiative. The issue of pensions isn’t a money issue, it’s a people issue. This is not a federal government problem. There is also a problem in the states as most struggle with pension and gratuities,” Adeosun said.

“The law says that the pension can’t be consolidated before the holder of an RSA can access retirement fund. They cannot access funds until government accrued pension rights and if appropriation is less than what is accrued, then we have a problem.

“The big issue is under appropriation. I’m not sure it can be sorted out in one year, but it must be addressed.”

Within the space of one year, Nigeria’s crude oil revenue had dropped by N644.1 billion, while payments by the NNPC to the Federation Account dipped by N58.8 billion.