NLC accuses A’Ibom State govt of lack of transparency in funds management

Ini Billie, Uyo

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has accused the Akwa Ibom State government of not being transparent in the management of public funds and challenged the State House of Assembly to probe the N30.7 billion COVD-19 responsive expenditure undertaken this year.

State Chairman of NLC, Mr Sunny James who said the government spent the amount against the provision of public procurement, expressed worry over the huge indebtedness the state has incurred.

Speaking on Wednesday in Uyo during the public hearing of the 2022 Akwa Ibom Appropriation Bill, James said Akwa Ibom was the most indebted state in the country on per capita basis.

The chairman stated that the liabilities included the N28 billion debt owed to retired primary school teachers as well as arrears of gratuities of the core civil service, bringing the total indebtedness to retirees at over N50 billion.

Challenging the State House of Assembly to embark on a probe, the labour leader wondered why state government investments as contained in the 2022 budget all yielded dividends in the deficit.

“Our flagship Ibom Airport Development, going by the summaries of 2022 proposals would not be able to operate at break-even level in 2022.

“The total revenue from the services of the airport is pegged at N437.356 million, which is swarmed by the anticipated personnel costs for the same period of N670.892 million and overheads of N6220 million.

“An analysis of the major investment agencies and public corporations of the state government, namely, Akwa Ibom State Investment Corporation, Akwa Ibom State Property and Investment Company (APICO), etc reveals the same trend for 2022.

“While APICO will generate N30 million in revenue for 2022, its personnel and overheads for the same period are 349 million.

“The non-income generating worship centre will in 2022 receive N5 billion. This is in addition to the N6.7 billion appropriated for the same project in 2021 and N5 billion expended on the same project in 2020 fiscal years, thus bringing total expenditure on the project to N16.75 billion over the period 2020-2022.

“We urge the House of Assembly to interrogate the entry of N3.58 billion as personnel costs for the budget office in 2022. We have observed that this value is not reflective of the staff strength of the said MDA,” he stated.

The union also questioned allocations to the critical social sector comprising Education, Health, Women and Youth at 15.4% only, of the total budget outlay, saying it was a long shot from regional and globally acceptable standards.

“The UNESCO recommendation which should be our guide is for a minimum of 25% to education,” he said.

In his address, Speaker of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly, Mr Aniekan Bassey, who was represented by his deputy, Mrs Felicia Bassey, said it was generally agreed at both the committee and at plenary that the time has come for 2022 appropriation bill content to command attention, hence the need for it to be thrown open for more deliberations and perspectives.

“It is for this reason that we call for decorum and mutual understanding amongst participants or those who shall have the opportunity to make contributions.

“You can be assured that careful note shall be taken of all your contributions, and where it is applicable, they shall form part of the final draft of the bill before it might be deemed suitable to be passed into law.”

The speaker expressed appreciation to Governor Udom Emmanuel and assured him of the Assembly’s continued solidarity and partnership with his administration for the betterment of Akwa Ibom people.