The Federal Government has said that only the Ministry of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs has the mandate to certify payments for Zonal Intervention Projects (ZIP) and Constituency Projects (CP) executed by ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs).
The ministry’s Public Relations Officer, Mrs Anastasia Ogbonna, made this known in a statement issued on Monday in Abuja.
According to Ogbonna, the Federal Government made the announcement in a service-wide circular titled “Revised Guidelines on the Implementation of Zonal Intervention Projects (ZIP) and Constituency Projects (CP).”
The circular, signed by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Sen. George Akume, states: “No payment shall be made to any contractor for ZIP/CP by MDAs without verification of the execution of such projects or programmes and certification by Ministry of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs. Implementing MDAs shall invite the ministry to verify all (ZIP/CP) as contained in both ZIP Appropriation and Capital Appropriation.”
On the issue of funding for the verification exercise, the circular states: “Funds for the purpose of this verification exercise shall be sourced from the Project Administration Funds of the ZIP/CP under the purview of the various MDAs.”
The circular further underscored the importance of adhering strictly to the guidelines.
“Henceforth, MDAs that fail to comply with this circular shall be excluded from the implementation of ZIP/CP in subsequent Federal Government budgets,” it stated.
