FG saves N900bn for infrastructural funds in nine months

With a monthly deduction of N100bn from the gross revenue of the federation, the Federal Government has saved a total sum of N900bn proposed to be spent for state governments’ infrastructural development and security between November 2023 and July 2024, The PUNCH reports.

The Federal Accounts Allocation Committee deducts the amount disbursed to a special account before its monthly revenue distribution to the three tiers of government.

Our correspondent’s analysis of the monthly revenue deduction breakdown revealed this on Sunday.

The item is titled, “Intervention to States for Infrastructure and Security”.

The document showed that the government started this saving in November 2023 and has not missed a single month of savings up till July 2024, making the amount surge to N900bn in nine months.

Checks by our correspondent also showed no single amount has been deducted from the account since its inception.

On July 20, 2023, President Bola Tinubu approved the establishment of the Infrastructure Support Fund for the 36 States of the Federation as part of measures to cushion the effects of the petrol subsidy removal on the people.

A statement by the then Special Adviser to the President, Special Duties, Communications & Strategy, Dele Alake, explained that “The new Infrastructure Fund will enable the states to intervene and invest in the critical areas of transportation, including farm to market road improvements.

Others include “agriculture, encompassing livestock and ranching solutions; health, with a focus on basic healthcare; education, especially basic education; power and water resources, that will improve economic competitiveness, create jobs and deliver economic prosperity for Nigerians.

“The committee also resolved to save a portion of the monthly distributable proceeds to minimize the impact of the increased revenues-occasioned by the subsidy removal and exchange rate unification on money supply, as well as inflation and the exchange rate.”

The statement also disclosed that about N790bn would be saved to “complement the efforts of the Infrastructure Support Fund and other existing and planned fiscal measures, all aimed at ensuring that the subsidy removal translates into tangible improvements in the lives and living standards of Nigerians.”

Although the government did not begin saving until November 2023, it remains unclear how these funds will be allocated.

Furthermore, the current administration has separated a total sum of N400bn as its savings since it assumed office. It committed to N200bn in February and June this year but missed other months.