FG to buy N23.5bn vehicles for 174 MDAs in 2023

The Federal Government plans to spend N23.57bn to buy new vehicles in 2023, according to the budget estimates for the fiscal year recently presented by President Muhammadu Buhari to the National Assembly.

Though it is not immediately clear the type of vehicles the FG’s ministries, departments and agencies will acquire, the budget proposal shows that 174 MDAs plan to spend the funds on assorted vehicles next year, a report by Daily Trust indicates.

It states that this is despite the allocation of N22.5bn to 212 government agencies for the same item in the current fiscal year, raising concerns over budgetary provision for critical infrastructure as the country grapples with dwindling revenue, rising debts and fiscal deficit year after year.

The Buhari administration planned to fund the N20.51tn 2023 budget with N9.73tn revenue and N8.80tn new borrowings, pushing the country’s debt profile to N71.64tn.

Nigeria’s outstanding debt as of June 2022 was N42.845tn ($103.312bn), according to the Debt Management Office.

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) tops the list of the 20 big spenders with N2bn earmarked for the purchase of new vehicles in 2023.

The NDLEA is followed by State House headquarters with N1.9 billion; Nigerian Army, which plans to spend N1.2bn and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) with N946.5m proposed spending.

The Accident and Investigation Bureau budgets N736.5m for new vehicles; Defence Intelligence Agency, N663m; Community Health Practitioners Registration Board N616.3m followed by the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning with N565.1m.

The National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, and Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) will be spending N540 million, N497.4 million, and N485 million respectively on new vehicles.

Others are the National Counter Terrorism Centre, N413.2 million; the Ministry of Works and Housing, N376 million; Nigeria Correctional Service N348.4 million; the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Tribunal, N300 million and the University of Ilorin N300 million.

The Federal Polytechnic Damaturu will spend N290 million on new vehicles; followed by Federal Polytechnic Shendam, Plateau with N287.7 million, and Nigeria Meteorological Agency with N280 million; Nigeria Immigration Service and Ministry of Health budgeted N276 million and N273.2 million for the same item.

More than half of these big spending MDAs got a large chunk of the N22.5bn earmarked for the purchase of vehicles in the current 2022 fiscal year.

They are State House headquarters – N1.6 billion; Ministry of Works and Housing N720 million; Nigeria Correctional Service – N738.8 million; Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Tribunal – N250 million; Nigeria Immigration Service – N322.9 million and Ministry of Health N413.6 million.

Others are the NDLEA – N250 million; Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning – N261.5 million and Secretary to the Government of the Federation – N124.7 million; Nigerian Army – N101.7 million; and Accident and Investigation Bureau (trucks) – N75 million.

Other top vehicle spenders in 2022 are Federal Road Safety Commission – N1.7 billion; the Defence Headquarters – N340 million; the Defence Mission – N220.3 million; the Ministry of Interior – N200 million; Federal Fire Service – N220.4 million; and the National Institute for Security Studies – N279 million.

The Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority, Nigeria (OGFZA) budgeted N300 million for vehicles while the Ministry of Niger Delta Hqtrs, Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital-Nnewi, and Mass Literacy Council are spending N300 million each on the same item.

The Federal Polytechnic Damaturu; National Social Investment Office; and Independent Corrupt Practices and Related Offences Commission also earmarked N408.2 million, N330.8 million, and N250 million respectively for vehicle purchase.

The Ministry of Women Affairs allocated N236 million for the same item; Federal Polytechnic, Monguno, Borno State – N209 million and Federal Polytechnic, Wannune, Benue State – N205 million.

Where are the vehicles?

There are concerns that while the FG spends billions to purchase new vehicles year after year, many of them are being diverted for private use or looted by government officials with little or no effort to recover them or prosecute those in charge.

In what has now become a common practice, senior government officials are said to take government vehicles away when they go on transfer or retirement.

In 2021, the Senate Public Accounts Committee queried the Ministry of Environment over 55 official vehicles that could not be accounted for.

The Office of Auditor-General for the Federation, in its audit report, said the 55 vehicles belonging to the ministry were not presented for inspection, and that all efforts to inspect them and confirm their availability proved abortive and their location could not be ascertained.

The report said, “We are aware that some officers take vehicles away when going on transfer or retirement. We also observed that the vehicle’s logbook has not been updated, making it difficult to track their movement and their record of maintenance.

“It is also noted that some official vehicles carry private number plates in place of government’s registered numbers.”