The Infrastructure Support Fund (ISF) for the 36 states established by President Bola Tinubu to ensure better grassroots development was one of the issues brought to the front burner after the president’s 63rd Independence Anniversary broadcast, TOPE SUNDAY writes.
President Bola Tinubu in a nationwide broadcast to mark Nigeria’s 63rd Independence Anniversary reechoed the establishment of an Infrastructure Support Fund (ISF) for the 36 states.
“To ensure better grassroots development, we set up an Infrastructure Support Fund for states to invest in critical areas. States have already received funds to provide relief packages against the impact of rising food and other prices,’’ the president stated.
Earlier, while announcing the fund in July, the Special Adviser to the President, Special Duties, Communications, and Strategy,
Dele Alake, said it was part of measures to cushion the effects of the petrol subsidy removal.
“The new Infrastructure Support Fund will enable the States to intervene and invest in the critical areas of transportation, including farm-to-market road improvements; agriculture, encompassing livestock and ranching solutions; health, with a focus on basic healthcare; education, especially basic education; power and water resources, that will improve economic competitiveness, create jobs and deliver economic prosperity for Nigerians’’, Alake, who is now the minister of solid minerals stated.
Blueprint Weekend reports that ISF would be funded through savings from monthly federal allocations.
According to Alake, N790 billion was set aside for the Fund out of the N1.9 trillion federation revenue for June. It’s unclear if the President will directly manage the Fund.
The Fund, which has been created with little recourse to the law and awarded N790 billion by presidential fiat, has however now come under scrutiny.
“The committee also resolved to save a portion of the monthly distributable proceeds to minimise the impact of the increased revenues occasioned by the subsidy removal and exchange rate unification on money supply, as well as inflation and the exchange rate,” he added.
Legal debacle
The Fund targeted at cushioning the effects of the country’s petrol subsidy removal was now being questioned by lawyers and analysts who say the framework of the ISF was not backed by law.
Commenting on the development, an Analyst, Kalu Aja, described the creation of the fund as illegal, saying: “There’s no legal basis for the creation of this illegal Fund.
“Why not transfer this Fund to the legal agency set up to manage windfall revenues which is the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), he queried in a Business Day report.
Another Analyst, Sunday Alifia, told Blueprint Weekend that the fund was standing in isolation, without any legal backing.
He made case for the Fund to be give all the necessary backing to make it stand and be beneficial to Nigerians.
He said: “As it stands, it is illegal because any credit in the Federation account is required to be allocated in a manner prescribed by the National Assembly. And anything on the contrary would amount to the contravention of the extant legal provisions.
“I would suggest and recommend that the fund should be transferred to be under the purview of the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), which derives its powers from the NSIA Act which was signed into law in May 2011.
“Until this is done, the whole process and its intention will be defended. Also, what does it cost the presidency to send the bill to the National Assembly to give it legal backing?
“The Presidency, if it truly wants this infrastructure fund to be effective, it should give it all the necessary legal backing it requires.”
Fund’ll improve security – Realtor
Also, speaking with Blueprint Weekend, the Chief Executive Officer of Sigvent Property Trust Limited, a real estate firm, Mr. Benjamin Onigbinde, described Tinubu’s proposed establishment of ISF as a welcome development, which according to him, would ease the states’ access to funds for development.
Onigbinde, who said the funds would make it possible for state governments to access required resources for this development, suggested that there should be priority areas in the choice of the application of the fund.
He said: “This is a good initiative from the Government, I have always believed in the bottom-up approach to development. If we look critically, the main challenge of employment and increased productivity is highly associated with infrastructure development.
“How do we transport agricultural products to urban centres? How can we improve productivity through the provision of health care facilities in the local areas? How do we get better results from education services? What about security infrastructure?
“The establishment of ISF will make it possible for state governments to access required resources for this development.
“I will also suggest that there should be priority areas in the choice of the application of the fund.
“We also look to support the development of housing infrastructures at the local level. I also believe that such a policy will also provide employment and improve security.”
Similarly, a Public Analyst, Olalekan Awojodu, who also described the establishment of the ISF as commendable, said it was a demonstration of the president to move the country forward through workable and enduring policies.
He, however, raised posers about the state governors’ readiness and willingness to channel the fund to the purpose it was meant for.
This is as he accused them of always re-channeling state funds to frivolous activities.
“Let me start by saying that the move by the federal government is apt. Once again, the Tinubu-led administration has demonstrated readiness to move the nation forward via workable and enduring policies.
“Take for instance, this is the first time this kind of thing is being mooted and I can tell you for free that this financial intervention would help cushion some challenges that states often face in respect of infrastructure, and in alleviating poverty.
“Going forward, I think it is commendable and it will help in bridging the gaps in many areas of human endeavours.
“Also with the fund, the issue of lack of access to funds to carry out projects that would have direct impacts on Nigerians will be addressed and the Nigerians at the grassroots would have a feel of the government.
“However, the big poser remains whether or not the state governors will be holistic in implementing it or better still give it a human face.
“We have witnessed in this country where the state governors diverted the money that is meant for COVID-19 to other uses. It is my fervent wish and prayer that our governors will be sincere and committed to the disbursement of the funds,” he stated.
