
The National Assembly Joint Committee on Livestock Development, on Tuesday, said the budgetary envelope of N11.8 billion earmarked for the take-off of the newly created Ministry was grossly inadequate.
The Federal Government had proposed a sum of N10 billion for capital expenditure and N1.8 billion for overhead in the 2025 budget of the Ministry.
The Joint Committee expressed this concern when the Minister, Mr Idi Maiha, led the management staff of the Ministry and heads of agencies to defend the 2025 budget before the Joint Committee at the National Assembly Complex, Abuja.
He said that the Ministry took off three months ago and that the take-off process was ongoing, with necessary structures being put together from formative departments from the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, where the new Ministry was carved out.
The Minister said that the Ministry was yet to have office accommodation, and also lacked the facilities, necessary office and operational equipment to run as a full-fledged Ministry.
According to him, the Ministry is currently being accommodated by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF).
However, Maiha said that the Ministry had initiated talks with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory to secure adequate office accommodation within the nation’s capital city.
The Minister said that though the budget might be small it would provide a roadmap to get the Ministry take-off effectively.
Stressing that the core mandate of the Ministry is to meet negative climate change, and environmental challenges, and open up avenues for youth and women to engage in economic activities in the livestock sector, he said that processes were being undertaken to statutorily transfer livestock-related MDAs under the Ministry of Agriculture to the Livestock Ministry.
He said that within the budgetary envelope, capital projects would be shared across geo-political zones according to specific needs and that the projects would be market-driven to attract local and foreign investments.
He said that the Ministry would engage in a massive, well-coordinated sensitization campaign across national and local media to project the Ministry.
The Joint Committee asked the Minister to harmonize adequate financial needs and re-present in the form of a supplementary budget, while promising prompt approval.
Hon. Wale Raji, House Chair on Livestock Development queried the amount of input from the Presidential Implementation Committee for the take-off of the Ministry.
“There will be a need for you to make a special presentation on this or necessarily come up with a supplementary budget that will reflect the hope of Nigerians. The budget is abysmally low to respond to the yearnings of Nigerians,” he said.
The Senate Committee Chairman, Senator Musa Mustapha, promised that the Committees would try their best to help the Ministry achieve its mandate.
He said the meeting was a foundation laying, but the Ministry must buckle up as it is expected of the Ministry to give a progress report on the challenges raised for the Joint Committee to make necessary interventions.