The Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), Mrs Oluwatoyin Madein, has declared that henceforth, no payments would be made for yet-to-be-awarded projects.
Madein made this declaration on Thursday at the opening of a one-day capacity-building programme tagged: “Implementation of the Cash Plan Policy in Nigeria: Prospects and Challenges.”
The AGF also said that projects that were not included in the procurement plan “will be very difficult to implement,” going forward.
According to the AGF, this will save the “country from running helter-skelter to seek money at the beginning of the year while the same government will continue to pay interest on the fund that is not being deployed.”
Madein further revealed that N743.737bn was released for capital projects as of August, while N487.421bn is being processed for September, and October 2023.
The AGF, however, said N1.2 trillion has been released for capital projects across the country, noting that in comparison to correspondent periods in 2022, N5 trillion had been released with actual implementation below N1 trillion.
Madein stressed that only implemented projects would be funded by the Federal Government to prevent the uncertainty over capital budget releases that were previously encountered.
Madein, however, clarified that the capital projects to be funded by the Federal Government do not necessarily have to be completed as ongoing projects with milestones and interim payment certificates will be qualified.
The AGF further stated that programmes of ministries, departments and agencies requiring personnel movement, and payment of Duty Tour Allowances that were impeded in the capital budget would be honoured for payments once approved.
