Directors and permanent secretaries in ministries, departments and agencies of government are said to be jittery over the Presidency’s claims that the 2016 budget was inflated and over-bloated.
The Presidency had over the weekend, revealed that a ‘mafia in the civil service’ had sabotaged the Federal Government’s budget
The unnamed mafia were said to have proposed a budget of N9.7tn for capital spending and overheads, excluding personnel cost, while the Presidency’s initial estimate was about N8tn.
In the budget, the said civil servants had earmarked over N3 trillion for overhead spending but the presidency cut it down to N163 billion which is 8% lower than the 2015 budget which was N177 billion.
Furthermore, bureaucrats also proposed N2.1 trillion for personnel in the 2016 budget against the N1.8 trillion in the 2015 budget which the presidency cut down to N1.7 trillion in the final copy of the budget.
Punch Newspapers reports that those who are responsible for preparing the budget in their respective agencies are at the moment, worried and anticipating a possible probe.
A source in the Presidency, was quoted to have said:“These bureaucrats also proposed to spend N2.1trn on personnel for the 2016 estimate compared to about N1.8tn in the 2015 budget.”
A director in one of the ministries was also quoted to have said that many top officials would be affected in the issue of budget padding.
“What we read in the news about the padding of the budget by some civil servants who the Presidency referred to as constituting a ‘budget mafia’ is very alarming.
“It tells you the extent of the rot we have in the civil service. But I think this time the civil service is in for a serious trouble because the body language of the President is that of zero tolerance for corruption.
“Everyone in the civil service knows that this government is out to fight corruption and from the recent revelation, the level of fear and anxiety in the civil service, particularly those at the peak of their careers, has been heightened.”
Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udo Udoma, is expected to appear before the National Assembly on Tuesday, to defend the ministry’s budget and that of its parastatals for the 2016 fiscal year.
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