Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, the Minister of Power,
Works and Housng has said that the 2016 budget may not achieve its aim
if contracts are mainly handled by foreign companies.
He said this during the 5th meeting of the National Council on
Lands, Housing and Urban Development in Ilorin, the Kwara State captical
on Friday.
The Minister said, “The decisions taken by the Buhari
administration is to increase the capital spending in 2016 budget to 30
per cent of the total budget size of N6.06tn. This is change for those
who still ask what has changed. It is change because it is a welcome
departure from almost a decade of spending only 10 per cent of our
annual budget on capital expenditure.
“It means that unlike in the past, when only about N400bn was
planned for capital spending, and indeed much less was ultimately
released and spent, this year about N1.8tn is planned for capital
spending with the commitment to fund it.
“But this is not the end of the purpose of spending. It is only the means to get to the end.
“The end really is to reflate this economy, to stimulate it back
to growth and back to productivity. To provide the opportunity for
people to feel included in the economy in a way that growth then
translates into employment for them. Employment for ordinary hardworking
people who can then get up in the morning and say with the dignity that
comes with it that I am going to work.”
He added, “But I must advise that inclusion and employment will not
happen by happenstance. They will not happen simply because government
plans to spend money and actually does so.
“Yes, the budget will work, money will be spent, but inclusion may
not happen and the people targeted for the benefit may not benefit, if
the benefit is transferred to foreign countries, to foreign factories
because professionals either do not participate or where they do, they
prefer foreign made or imported goods to local ones.”
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