Budget: NIMASA to spend N86bn on salaries, stationery

Salaries of workers and overhead expenditure such as the procurement of stationery will cost the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency over N86bn this year.

Overhead cost takes the lion’s share of N69.24bn, while the salaries and allowances of NIMASA’s workers will claim N15bn.

The figures are contained in the abridged version of the agency’s 2014 budget attached to the national budget, which is before the House of Representatives.

But, on the capital side, the agency plans to spend N1.82bn. Listed as a capital expenditure item is the sum of N1.71bn, proposed as direct transfer to the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation.

The document shows that though the agency targets a revenue sum of N66.96bn, it will spend about N97bn this year on both recurrent and capital proposals.

NIMASA is one of the agencies described as “big spenders” by the House. It is grouped with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Central Bank of Nigeria, Nigerian Ports Authority and 27 others accused of not submitting their budget details to the National Assembly.

The Nigerian Communications Commission will spend N7.42bn on personnel cost, while its total overhead proposal is N5.26bn.

On its part, the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency has a personnel bill of N6.82bn.

The budget of the big spenders has remained a source of conflict between the National Assembly and the Executive over the years.

It will be recalled that the budget details of the agencies had delayed the debate on the 2014 budget at the House two weeks ago.

The House only agreed to debate the budget on the condition that the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, would make the details available before it would be passed.

The Federal Government  proposed to spend N4.6tn this year.

The budget is now before the committees of the House where various Ministries, Departments and Agencies will be invited to defend their individual proposals.

Last Thursday, lawmakers suspended plenary up until March 11, to give the committees enough time to work on the budget.

Copyright PUNCH.