Bayelsa state government says it has mobilized the contractor that would construct phase one of the Nembe-Brass senatorial road project.
The Commissioner for Information, Strategy and Orientation, Hon. Ayibaina Duba disclosed this on Friday during the transparency briefing for the months of March and April, 2022 in Yenagoa, the state capital
Hon. Duba who noted that the groundbreaking ceremony for the project would take place in no distant time, hinted that government had received some intelligence reports of a planned distruption of the project.
He therefore appealed to neighboring communities around the Nembe-Brass road to cooperate with government to ensure the smooth execution of the project to be handled simultaneously alongside the other two senatorial roads.
His words:”The Bayelsa state government has mobilized the contractor for the construction of the Nembe-Brass road and soon the groundbreaking ceremony will take place.
“We are pleading with communities in that area for cooperation so that the project will not be stalled. We have had some intelligence reports of people planning to disrupt the smooth execution of the senatorial road. The Ministry of Works and Infrastructure is already engaging with the communities at multiple levels to ensure the project is executed seamlessly.”
Responding to questions on the distribution of ecological funds to the state, Hon. Duba, explained that measures were being taken to tackle environmental challenges in the state in communities such as Odi, Sampou and Ayama-Ogbia.
“The Civil Society Organizations and Non-governmental Organizations involved in environmental matters gave kudos to the state government for the efforts at addressing environmental problems.”
Also in their contributions, the Technical Adviser on Treasury, Accounts and Revenue, Mr. Timipre Seipulo and the Accountant General of the state, Ms Tokoni Ifidi explained that 50% of the ecological funds received from the federal allocation were transferred monthly to the Niger Delta Development Commission.
Presenting the income and expenditure report for the month of March, Mr. Seipulo said the state received N15.2 billion as total gross inflow from the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC).
He explained that the gross inflow was made up of statutory allocation of N1.96 billion, derivation N5.1 billion, derivation on subsidy re-allocation N4.97 billion, excess crude allocation N1.1 billion, Value Added Tax N498 million among other items.
Mr Seipulo also announced N1.68 billion as total FAAC deductions which include, restructured commercial bank loan of N741 million, commercial agricultural credit scheme N259 million, refund on budget support N154 million leaving the state with a net receipt of N13.5 billion.
The governor’s aide noted that internally generated revenue for February came up to N1.19 billion leaving the state with a total FAAC receipts of N14.7 billion.
On outflows, Mr Seipulo said the state spent N8.48 billion comprising bank loan repayment N2.1 billion, civil servants salary N4.17 billion, political appointees salary, N496 million transfer of 50% ecological fund 36.5 million, salary grant to tertiary institutions N854 million among others leaving a balance of N6.24 billion.
According to him, recurrent expenditure was 2.8 billion while capital expenditure stood at N3.7 billion leaving a deficit balance of N78.38 million and in addition to the balance brought forward from February of N978.3 million the state had a carried forward balance of N900m 98 thousand.
For the month of April 2022, Mr Seipulo
said the state got N22.206 billion as total gross inflow which consisted statutory allocation of N2.9 billion, derivation N17.2 billion and value added tax N2 billion.
He explained that FAAC deductions amounted to N1.69 billion made up of refund on budget support N154 million, restructured commercial bank loan repayment N741 million, commercial agricultural credit scheme N259 million, ecological fund distribution N78 million among other components bringing net FAAC receipts to N20.508 billion.
Mr Seipulo said internally generated revenue for March was N1.2 billion leaving a balance of N21 billion.
According to him, the state spent N10.039 billion on outflows, which consisted bank loan repayment of N3.6 billion, grant to tertiary institutions N854 million, gratuity N200 million, civil servants salary N44.1 billion while that of political appointees was N500 million leaving a balance of N11.6 billion.
The governor’s aide also explained that capital and recurrent expenditure stood at N8.7 billion leaving a balance of N2.9 billion and in addition to the balance brought forward from March, the state had a balance carried forward of N3.8 billion.
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