The Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment will spend the sum of N2.5bn in 2024 on the procurement of furniture and new fittings, creation and partitioning of new offices, trade intelligence as well as investment promotion, image rebranding and roadshows.
According to an analysis of the recently signed 2024 Appropriation Bill, the ministry plans to spend the sum of N500m on investment promotion, image rebranding and roadshows.
Another N500m is earmarked for the procurement of office furniture and fittings while an additional N500m will be spent on creating new offices and partitioning at the new FMITI headquarters building.
Recently, the trade ministry was in the eye of the storm after senators raised questions over a N1bn budget allocation for a trip to Geneva.
This came up during a budget defence before the Senate Committee on Trade by the Minister of Trade, Industry and Investment, Doris Nkiruka-Anite Uzoka.
A former Governor of Edo State and Senator representing Edo North, Adams Oshiomhole, had criticised the allocation, describing it as a waste of public funds.
Oshiomhole tasked the minister to shelve the Geneva trip and make use of experts in her Ministry.
He said, “I see that you intend to travel to Geneva next year and you have budgeted over N1bn for that. We can’t keep going on with over-bloated teams on abroad trips. Use the experts we have in your offices in that country to save cost.”
According to the ministry’s budget, the sum of N1bn is also slated for the creation of a Trade Intelligence Unit.
During the budget presentation before the Senate, Oshiomhole had raised concerns over the lack of well-documented statistics on Nigeria’s transactions with its major trade partners.
Querying the minister, Oshionhole asked, “What is our balance of trade? Especially with China. Those countries importing things to Nigeria are expected to build factories in Nigeria. We have to take advantage of our population to grow our industries.
“Madam, sit in your office and work for Nigerians. I have gone there (the ministry) twice. You are always in the BoI. If you preferred BoI, you should have declined the President’s nomination to be minister.”
In her response, the trade minister said “Sir, I regret to say that we seem to have no record of our Balance of Trade.”
She added that the ministry had initiated a new unit called Trade Intelligence Unit to ensure that such data were generated and stored.
The minister’s claim came despite detailed information on Nigeria’s trade statistics published every quarter by the National Bureau of Statistics.
SOURCE: PUNCHNG
