‘typographical errors’ in 2021 Budget Proposals
The people and Akwa Ibom State Government have continued to grapple with the alleged fraudulent budgetary over-expenditure by government officials in the 2019 budget and 2019 Audited Financial statements statutorily issued by the Accountant General of the State, with the state government blaming it on “typographical errors”.
As the Akwa Ibom Government struggles to correct the “typographical errors”, there have been uproars from concerned citizens of the state and public spirited organisations who have found fault with the budgetary proposals and called for their review before they become typographical errors” .
Consequently, Morenews.ng brings you what it terms 10 typographical errors‘ in 2021 Budget Proposals now before the state House of Assembly.
N60.18b Deficit
The 2021 Budget Proposals has a deficit of N60.18 billion. The implication is that fund expected by the state government is N60.18 billion less than what it has proposed to spend in 2021.
N60.18 billion Loans
Observations show that the 2021 proposed budget will be partly funded with N60.18 loans; internal loan of N40.04 billion and external loans of N20.14 billion. The of many is that situation will swell the already swollen debt profile of Akwa Ibom State which, as at 30th June, 2020, stands N239 billion for domestic profile and S46.6 million for external debt.
N12.5 billion Debt Servicing
Also in the list of ‘typographical errors’ in 2021 Budget Proposals is the N22.5 billion for debt servicing, that is interest payments for for domestic loans owed by government. As a matter of fact, N23
.billion was budgeted for the same purpose in the 2020 budget while N12.2 billion was reportedly spent in the controversial 2019 budget.
N44 billion “Accrued expenses”
Another ‘typographical error’ in 2021 Budget Proposals is the N44 billion estimated for “Accrued expenses”, a nameless budgetary item that has become the subject of controversy in the 2019 budget report. The funds, which come in form of N14 billion and N 30 billion are budgeted for the State Accountant General Office. Reports say 35.3 billion was actually spent on the ‘item’ in the 2019 budget and analysts said the figure was the entire internally generated revenue of the state in that year (N35.5 billion).
N2 Billion for the 21-Storey Building
The N2 billion proposed for the 21-Storey Smart Building in the Ministry of Special Duties also made the list of 10 ‘typographical errors’ in 2021 Budget Proposals. Despite claiming that the first Smart Building in Africa is 85% completed, the government still budgets another N2 billion for the Intelligent Building in the 2021 budget.
N2 Billion for State’s Aircraft Servicing
The Akwa Ibom State Government has proposes to spend another N2 billion for servicing of the state’s aircraft in 2021 through the Office of the Secretary to the State Government (SSG). According to Policy Alert, N2.5 billion was approved for the same purpose in 2019 but the State Government but ended up spending N 5 billion admidst outrage.
• N4.8 billion for purchase of vehicles in the Office of the SSG, including N800m for 5 security jeeps.
• N6.7 billion allocated in the Ministry of Special Duties for a Worship Centre.
