Yar'Adua stops Ministers' last-minute contracts award - Vanguard

Written by Ben Agande

Tuesday, 18 December 2007

PRESIDENT Umaru Yar’Adua, yesterday, shot down last minute proposals by ministers for 27 contracts two weeks to the end of the current fiscal year. Reason: breach of fiscal discipline. But Council said a total of $3.3 billion concessionary loans had been received between 1999 to President Umaru Yar’Adua date from agencies like the World Bank, ADB, Islamic Development Bank and IFAD by both federal and state governments Of this amount, $2 billion was received by state governments for various development projects while the Federal Government received $1.3 billion. Finance Minister, Dr Shamsudeen Usman, and his Information and Communications counterpart, Mr. John Odey, told State House correspondents after the last FEC meeting of the year that the president’s abortion of the planned contracts was to ensure strict budgetary discipline. Full Story