The same parastatal is also billed for unbundling into three
agencies by the Federal government next year.
In the proposed N160.593billion budget for the Ministry,
NIGCOMSAT, NIPOST and NIMC, the main ministry got N85.231billion for capital
votes , NIMC N46.533billion, NIGCOMSAT N5.440billion while NIPOST has zero
allocation.
Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali
Pantami, made the disclosure on Thursday while defending his Ministry’s 2022
budget estimate before the joint committee of the National Assembly on
Communication.
Reacting to the proposal, the Chairman of the Committee,
Senator Oluremi Tinubu said it was wrong for the agency not to be allocated any
capital vote for 2022 fiscal year.
The ranking Senator thereafter asked the Minister whether
the zero capital budget allocation proposed for NIPOST in 2022 was based on non
– request by the agency or lack of fund.
The Committee, she added , may have no choice but to
appropriate something for the agency if there is no valid reason for the zero
allocation.
Responding to Senator Tinubu’s explanation, Pantami said he
was not against some votes taken from the capital estimates of the Ministry for
NIPOST.
He said: “I’m not against the Committee taking about
N200million from N85.231billion capital vote of the Ministry to NIPOST”.
The Minister also stated that out of the 2022 total budget
profile of N160.593billion proposed for the Ministry and the three agencies
under it, the Ministry got a total of N86.488billion, NIGCOMSAT N8.226billion,
NIPOST N13.116billion and NIMC N52.761billion.
On the increase observed in the personnel cost of the
Ministry which rose from N981m OKappropriated in 2020 to N1.032billion proposed
for 2022 fiscal year, Pantami attributed the increase to emoluments of newly
recruited staff posted to the Ministry by the Federal Civil Service Commission.
The Minister also disclosed that unbundling of NIPOST will
be carried out in 2022 by setting up three different agencies out of it
particularly Property and Development Company that will manage the 2,500
properties of the agency scattered across the country.
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