By Taiye Odewale
Abuja
The Senate Committee on Basic Education yesterday took to task management of the Nigeria Education Research and Development Council (NERDC) over high overhead cost of the agency’s 2017 budget proposals.
NERDC’s Executive Secretary, Prof. Ismail Junaid, had in the 2017 budget of the research council before the committee disclosed that N244million was proposed for overhead cost aside major recurrent expenditure to cover salaries and emolument of staffers of the agency .
But the committee felt uncomfortable with the proposal more so, when it discovered that out of the figure, a whopping N30million was budgeted for security services, N15 for fumigation, N19million for powering of generator etc.
A member of the committee, Senator Binta Garuba Marshi (APC, Adamawa North), wondered why overhead cost of such an agency would be far more than half of its capital vote going by N377million proposed for that.
However, the NERDC boss when called upon to defend the proposals said they were arrived at based on operational realities on ground for the agency.
According to him, the overhead cost for powering of generators was high because the research council is situated in a remote area (Sheda) several kilometers outside Abuja metropolis where residents hardly enjoy electricity supply.
“We run the council on daily basis through power from generators and not from electricity provided by any of the DisCos,” he said.
