2 hours ago
21
From Adesuwa Tsan, Abuja
The Senate Committee on Capital Market has queried the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over the expenditure profile of the 2025 budget.
The committee picked holes in the N7.166 billion earmarked for about four items.
Of particular concern to the committee was the N1.464 billion earmarked solely for electricity.
It, however, applauded the revenue profile of the budget.
On Thursday, February 13, the Senate passed the N54.99 trillion 2025 budget and made some adjustments to the Appropriation Bill on Tuesday, February 18, after rescinding its earlier decisions.
While appearing before the committee on the same Tuesday, the lawmakers demanded an explanation from SEC on why only electricity had four different requests in one year. Under its expenditures, SEC allocated the sum of N355,945,200 for electricity charges and N490,360,000 for generator fuel. Under capital, it budgeted the sum of N118,000,000 for the procurement of a generator and N500,000,000 for green energy (solar).
Other budget items flagged by the committee include N66.8 million for toiletries, beverages, utensils, etc.; N1.3 billion for the maintenance of furniture and equipment; N3.8 billion for foreign training; N2.3 billion for local travels; and N1.125 billion for foreign travels.
In addition, they asked the Director-General of SEC, Dr. Emonotimi Agama, to explain why N45 million was allocated for computer software and N377 million for computer hardware in the capital component of the budget, separate from the N1.041 billion for software maintenance, N1.3 billion for hardware maintenance, and N27.8 million for computer consumables in the expenditure component. This, they noted, is despite the provision of funds by the CBN for the procurement of computer hardware in 2023.
Responding, the SEC DG explained that, regarding electricity provision, the commission allocated N500 million to solar energy to provide alternative power sources to its offices due to the rising cost of electricity supplied by distribution companies like AEDC.
He said, “The issue of power, electricity charges, and all of that in the budget—like we said, without making provision, we cannot make expenditures. As we speak today, I spend an average of N17 million on electricity at the SEC headquarters from AEDC. I have some offices in Lagos, Kano, and Port Harcourt that have an average of N1 million in electricity costs. I have NCMI with an average of N1.5 million in electricity bills. So, at the end of the month, I spend nothing less than N30 million or thereabout on electricity bills.
“Besides that, how I wish I got the electricity. I get the bill but oftentimes do not get the electricity, yet we must run. So, we need to buy diesel. We are aware of the fluctuating price of diesel.
“That is the reason why we have such projections. While we think about those challenges, in the spirit of sustainability, we have thought bigger, and that thinking leads to green energy. The NSE in the last eight years has suffered a lot in terms of facilities. Our generators were bought about 20 years ago. They have outlived their lifespan. There is no generator that is less than 15 years old at the NSE. We can’t wait until they have totally packed up before we replace them. Hence, we are making projections.”
On the computers, the DG said the components were not supplied in full. “Some of the equipment that was bought by CBN—we were not able to complete the installation because they were not all supplied,” he said.
For the maintenance of computer software, he said, “When you pay for the cloud, it is maintenance. It is not equipment; you pay for a license.”
But the lawmakers disagreed, saying maintenance means there is something already on the ground that is being taken care of.
They subsequently directed him to furnish the committee with details of the budget, saying, “We need documents for the computer software and hardware. We also need the documents for foreign travels.”
They also asked for clarification on the solar projects, saying there should be a reduction in power costs if alternative power is being used alongside traditional sources.
“You cannot be allocating money to electricity bills and still have solar. One has to give way for the other.”
When the committee inquired if SEC staff had a “purging problem” that would require them to spend N66.8 million on “toiletries, beverages, and utensils,” he responded, “In terms of the toiletries, I am very happy to announce that my staff do not have a purging problem, but I assure you, I am going to look at it.”
The commission’s total projected revenue for 2025 (N50.491 billion from operations and N1 billion from an AfDB grant) is N51.491 billion; total recurrent expenditure is N40.575 billion; capital expenditure is N5.473 billion, while the surplus is N5.443 billion.
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