A new report has revealed that projects executed by
the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) in Nigeria under the Chairmanship
of presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Gen
Muhammadu Buhari were mostly carried out in South-South zone.
Leadership Newspaper reveals this following the acquisition of a classified document on Wednesday night by the Online Daily.
This new development will come as a shock as it was believed that most of the projects carried out by the Petroleum Trust Fund under Buhari were in the western part of Nigeria.
The PTF was an initiative put in place by the late Gen Sani Abacha regime and it operated between 1995 and 1999 to invest in socio-economic infrastructure including in road transportation and waterways, water supply, food supply, health and education via gains that would come from a new pricing system for petroleum products introduced in October 1994, from N3.25 to N11 per litre, an increase of N7.75 per litre.
During the four years of its operation, the resources available to the PTF, according to findings by Leadership, represented less than 10 percent of the nation’s budget.
After its formaton in May 1995, the PTF worked diligently in the execution of its mandate through its programmes, with the objective of resuscitating the nation’s collapsing social services, lagging industries and deteriorating infrastructure.
Read the findings by Leadership Newspaper below:
“According to findings, a working formula was adopted by the Fund that recognized three categories of projects and allocated funds available to them: federal projects, 48.5%; state projects, 50% and FCT direct allocation, 1.5%.
“The state project funds in turn were allocated to respective states/zones using a set of criteria that gave consideration to equity, population, land/water mass, terrain difficulties and needs assessment. The location and coverage of the PTF programmes and projects were designed to carefully fulfill these criteria.
“In terms of allocations made to fund PTF projects as at May 1999, out of an estimated total of 187 billion Naira to all projects and programmes, about 56.5% was committed on projects in Zones 1 (South West), 2 (South East) and 6 (South South), i.e. the zones in the south of the country. Zones 3 (North West), 4 (North East) and 5 (North Central) had a combined allocation of about 43.5%.
Indeed, in terms of difficulties in natural terrain, the projects in Zone 6 (the South South), such as road construction, were the most capital intensive. The highest zonal commitment was on capital projects in this zone, with 26.2%.
In terms of actual disbursements to projects by May 1999, 52% of all disbursement was made in respect of projects in Zones 1 (South West), 2 (South East) and 6 (South South).”
Shortly before the inauguration of President Olusegun Obasanjo, Buhari submitted his resignation from the Board of the Fund. The rest of the Board of Trustees effectively became dissolved at the inauguration of President Obasanjo in late June 1999.
In early 2015 Gen. Obasanjo revealed that after probing the accounts and adminstration of he PTF shortly after coming in power his team did not find any irregularities with the PTF.
Leadership Newspaper reveals this following the acquisition of a classified document on Wednesday night by the Online Daily.
This new development will come as a shock as it was believed that most of the projects carried out by the Petroleum Trust Fund under Buhari were in the western part of Nigeria.
The PTF was an initiative put in place by the late Gen Sani Abacha regime and it operated between 1995 and 1999 to invest in socio-economic infrastructure including in road transportation and waterways, water supply, food supply, health and education via gains that would come from a new pricing system for petroleum products introduced in October 1994, from N3.25 to N11 per litre, an increase of N7.75 per litre.
During the four years of its operation, the resources available to the PTF, according to findings by Leadership, represented less than 10 percent of the nation’s budget.
After its formaton in May 1995, the PTF worked diligently in the execution of its mandate through its programmes, with the objective of resuscitating the nation’s collapsing social services, lagging industries and deteriorating infrastructure.
Read the findings by Leadership Newspaper below:
“According to findings, a working formula was adopted by the Fund that recognized three categories of projects and allocated funds available to them: federal projects, 48.5%; state projects, 50% and FCT direct allocation, 1.5%.
“The state project funds in turn were allocated to respective states/zones using a set of criteria that gave consideration to equity, population, land/water mass, terrain difficulties and needs assessment. The location and coverage of the PTF programmes and projects were designed to carefully fulfill these criteria.
“In terms of allocations made to fund PTF projects as at May 1999, out of an estimated total of 187 billion Naira to all projects and programmes, about 56.5% was committed on projects in Zones 1 (South West), 2 (South East) and 6 (South South), i.e. the zones in the south of the country. Zones 3 (North West), 4 (North East) and 5 (North Central) had a combined allocation of about 43.5%.
Indeed, in terms of difficulties in natural terrain, the projects in Zone 6 (the South South), such as road construction, were the most capital intensive. The highest zonal commitment was on capital projects in this zone, with 26.2%.
In terms of actual disbursements to projects by May 1999, 52% of all disbursement was made in respect of projects in Zones 1 (South West), 2 (South East) and 6 (South South).”
Shortly before the inauguration of President Olusegun Obasanjo, Buhari submitted his resignation from the Board of the Fund. The rest of the Board of Trustees effectively became dissolved at the inauguration of President Obasanjo in late June 1999.
In early 2015 Gen. Obasanjo revealed that after probing the accounts and adminstration of he PTF shortly after coming in power his team did not find any irregularities with the PTF.
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