The Office of the Chief Economic Adviser to the President (OCEAP), headed by Adeyemi Dipeolu, received a sum of N34 million in 2017 to fund research studies on the economy but fails to make this research available, The ICIR has learnt.
In 2016, the office requested for a capital allocation of N78 million, out of which N47.8 million was budgeted for research and allocation. In 2018, the office’s capital allocation is N60 million, from which N19.9 million is budgeted for research while the rest goes to the purchase of vehicles, computers, office furniture and so on.
Conversely, in the 2017 budget, the total capital cost for the office was N60 million, with every penny going into research and development. The budget went on to specifically state the project title as: “Provision of evidence-based research studies on all aspects of the Nigerian economy that will help Mr. President in formulating sound strategies and policies.”
According to a document obtained from the office of the Accountant-General of the Federation stating cash releases to all government bodies, out of the entire sum, N35 million was given to OCEAP as part of the first batch of releases.
Out of this sum, N33.7 million was utilised at the end of the fiscal year, leaving a balance of N1.29 million.
The studies are, however, nowhere to be found — over four months since the 2017 budget implementation period ended and over a year since money was released for the research project.
The website of the State House under which the economic adviser’s office is subsumed has no traces of any documentary uploads, let alone one from the economic adviser’s office.
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