Former Nigerian leaders including ex-Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Goodluck Jonathan and their Chiefs of Staff are to receive N2.3bn as benefits in 2019.
The sum of N4.5bn was also proposed in the 2019 budget as severance benefits for retired Heads of Service and Permanent Secretaries while former heads of government agencies and parastatals would receive N1bn as severance benefits.
This is contained in the budget document recently submitted to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The Federal Government also proposed N3bn for outsourced services and N5bn for ‘margin for increased in costs.’
Findings also showed that N65bn was budgeted for re-integration of transformed ex-militants while contingency got N15.8bn.
The counter-insurgency operations in the North-East, Operation Lafiya Dole and other military operations were expected to gulp N75bn.
The Federal Government allocated N20bn for university revitalization and another N20bn for additional support to universities.
The sum of N160bn was voted for public service wage adjustment for ministries, departments and agencies including arrears of promotion and salary increases and severance benefits.
Another N22.7bn was allocated for outstanding terminal benefits of retired Nigeria Airways workers.
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps proposed N514.6m for the construction of public schools and N170.4m for construction of stations/ barracks.
The Nigeria Police Force voted N103m for land acquisition and N4.9bn for police stations/ barracks construction.
Justice ministry gets N1bn for election logistics’ support
Meanwhile, the Federal Ministry of Justice has proposed to spend the sum of N1bn on election logistics support in 2019.
The N1bn planned expense jerked the proposed budget up by about 13.9 per cent over the ministry’s 2018 budget.
According to the budget estimate, the sum of N1bn proposed by the Ministry of Justice to be spent on what is described as “Election – Logistics Support” represents about 13.5 per cent of the ministry’s budget size of N7,431,288,232.
Since the budget proposal is for an election year, it is believed that the item has to do with the forthcoming general elections.
Further strengthening this belief is that the item which surfaced under the miscellaneous expenses of the ministry for the 2019 financial year, was absent in the ministry’s budget for 2018.
A total sum of N1,140,273,822 is proposed for miscellaneous expenses of the ministry for 2019.
Apart from election logistic support, other items under the heading are publicity and advertisements which are to gulp N5,5671,861; postages and courier services, N2,108,280; welfare packages, 93,600,001; sporting activities, N5,000,0004; annual budget expenses and administration, 28,893,676; and monitoring activities and follow-up, N5m.
The sum of N1bn proposed for election logistic support represents 87.7 per cent of the proposed miscellaneous expenses.
In the 2018 budget of the ministry the amount planned to be spent under miscellaneous expenses without the new item of election logistic support was N21,015,931.
If the budget proposal of the Ministry of Justice is approved by the National Assembly, it means the ministry’s budget will increase from N6,526,592,382 in 2018 to N7,431,288,232 in 2019.
The difference of N904, 695, 850 between the 2018 and the proposed 2019 budgets represents about 13.9 per cent increase in the proposed budget.
Also, the Nigerian judiciary has proposed to spend the sum of N110bn in 2019.
The third arm of government had proposed to spend the sum of N100bn in 2018 but the National Assembly passed the sum of N110bn.
Judiciary’s budget covers the consolidated salary of judges, personnel, overheads and capital expenditure for federal courts, judiciary institutions and salary of judges of state High Courts.
The federal courts captured under the judiciary budget comprised the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, the Federal High Court, the National Industrial Court, the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, the Sharia Court of Appeal of the FCT, and the Customary Court of the FCT.
The institutions whose budget proposals are also captured under the judiciary’s budget are the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee, Federal Judicial Service Commission, Judicial Service Committee of the FCT, National Judicial Institute, and the Body of Benchers. (Punch)
