Efforts are under way to ensure that the Federal Government leaves no part of the country out of the planned expenditure of N6.5 trillion on infrastructural development in the country. The government wants equity in the distribution of the funds to all zones and states of the federation.
The government has a five-year plan to develop critical infrastructure across the country, while mulling a special infrastructure bond, driven by the private sector to achieve its lofty dream.
But first, it is concentrating on rail and road infrastructure in the face of dwindling finances, sources said. The Budget and Planning Minister, Udo Udoma, alluded to the focus on rail and road last Friday at a meeting in his office.
The issue of which zone benefits the most from the federal expenditure has been a subject of quiet tussle among government operatives, spreading out often to fan sentiments in the larger society.
When the presidency released the first budget figures, there was the allegation that the South-West was the highly favoured zone, but when the figures were later tinkered with after the initial rejection by ministers who said the figures did not represent what they wanted, it was disclosed that the North-Central topped the benefitting zones. But at press time, no empirical evidence has shown which state or zone is a major beneficiary.
At the weekend, the government said it had commenced the collation of data towards addressing infrastructural imbalance in all the zones of the country, with a view to stemming the tide of restiveness, corruption and poverty.
The Federal Character Commission (FCC), through its acting chairman, Dr. Shettima Abubakar Abba, said the FCC was looking into data banks and soliciting information from appropriate quarters in a bid to properly establish the spread of basic infrastructural facilities as well as identify and confirm areas of real and perceived lopsidedness.
Abba, who was visiting Udoma, according to the minister’s spokesman, Akpandem James, explained that the exercise was intended to draw the attention of government to areas where there are genuine lapses as well as suggest measures to address them. This, he said, was to give every segment of the country a genuine sense of belonging.
But first, it is concentrating on rail and road infrastructure in the face of dwindling finances, sources said. The Budget and Planning Minister, Udo Udoma, alluded to the focus on rail and road last Friday at a meeting in his office.
The issue of which zone benefits the most from the federal expenditure has been a subject of quiet tussle among government operatives, spreading out often to fan sentiments in the larger society.
When the presidency released the first budget figures, there was the allegation that the South-West was the highly favoured zone, but when the figures were later tinkered with after the initial rejection by ministers who said the figures did not represent what they wanted, it was disclosed that the North-Central topped the benefitting zones. But at press time, no empirical evidence has shown which state or zone is a major beneficiary.
At the weekend, the government said it had commenced the collation of data towards addressing infrastructural imbalance in all the zones of the country, with a view to stemming the tide of restiveness, corruption and poverty.
The Federal Character Commission (FCC), through its acting chairman, Dr. Shettima Abubakar Abba, said the FCC was looking into data banks and soliciting information from appropriate quarters in a bid to properly establish the spread of basic infrastructural facilities as well as identify and confirm areas of real and perceived lopsidedness.
Abba, who was visiting Udoma, according to the minister’s spokesman, Akpandem James, explained that the exercise was intended to draw the attention of government to areas where there are genuine lapses as well as suggest measures to address them. This, he said, was to give every segment of the country a genuine sense of belonging.
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