Six months after President Muhammadu Buhari presented the draft copy of the N8.612 trillion 2018 budget estimates to a joint session of the National Assembly on November 7 last year, both the Senate and the House of Representatives, Tuesday laid the report of Committees on Appropriations.
The National Assembly, in the laid documents, has however jerked up the 2018 appropriation bill by a whopping sum of N508.33 billion, following its approval of the sum of N9.12 trillion for the 2018 fiscal year.
The report of the Committee on Appropriations of the Senate was laid by the Chairman, Senator Danjuma Goje, APC, Gombe Central.
The presentation of the report was seconded by the Chairman, Senate Committee on Public Accounts, Senator Matthew Urhoghide, PDP, Edo South. In the House of Representatives, the chairman of its Appropriation committee, Hon. Mustapha Dawaki (APC, Kano), also laid the report.
According to the report of the joint Committees on Appropriations, the amount represents more than 10 per cent increase of the original amount of N8.612trillion submitted by President Muhammadu Buhari on December 5, 2017.
Also jerked-up by the lawmakers is the crude oil benchmark which has been increased from its earlier $45 per barrel to $50.5 per barrel.
Also increased, it was gathered, is the budget of the Office of the Auditor- General of the Federation to enable it carry out its responsibilities to the fullest.
Strong indications, however, emerged that the budget will be passed by the Senate this week, just as moves to do that was largely believed by concerned Nigerians to have arisen as a result of May 31, 2018, set as deadline for the life span of 2017 budget of N7.444trillion.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives has resolved to pass the budget at noon today and the breakdown shows that the sum of N530.42 billion is for statutory transfer; N2.20 trillion for debt service.
According to the breakdown, the sum of N199 billion is for sinking fund for maturing loans; N3.51 trillion for recurrent (non debt) expenditure, while N2.86 trillion is for development fund for capital expenditure.
In his presentation, Dawaki said: “That the House do receive the Report of the Committee on Appropriations on a Bill for an Act to authorize the issue from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation, the total sum of N9,120,334,988,225 (Nine Trillion, One Hundred and Twenty Billion, Three Hundred and Thirty-Four Million, Nine Hundred and Eighty-Eight Thousand, Two Hundred and Twenty-Five Naira) only, of which the sum of N530,421,368,624 (Five Hundred and Thirty Billion, Four Hundred and Twenty-One Million, Three Hundred and Sixty-Eight Thousand, Six Hundred and Twenty-Four Naira) only is for Statutory Transfers.
“The sum of N2,203,835,365,699 (Two Trillion, Two Hundred and Three Billion, Eight Hundred and Thirty-Five Million, Three Hundred and Sixty-Five Thousand, Six Hundred and Ninety Nine Naira) only is for Debt Service of which the sum of N190,000,000,000 (One Hundred and Ninety Billion Naira) only is for Sinking Fund for maturing loans. the sum of N3,516,477,902,077 (Three Trillion, Five Hundred and Sixteen Billion, Four Hundred and Seventy-Seven Million, Nine Hundred and Two Thousand, Seventy Seven Naira) only is for Recurrent (Non-Debt) Expenditure, while the sum of N2,869,600,351,825 (Two Trillion, Eight Hundred and Sixty-Nine Billion, Six Hundred Million, Three Hundred and Fifty- One Thousand, Eight Hundred and Twenty-Five Naira) only, while N987 billion is contribution to the Development Fund for Capital Expenditure (Exclusive of Capital Expenditure in Statutory Transfers) for the year ending on the 31st December, 2018.”
The six months the 2018 budget estimate has spent in the National Assembly has been the longest since 2000 when a full fledged yearly budget was first presented to it.
Expeditious consideration for the 2018 budget estimates by both chambers of the National Assembly ran into troubled waters in December last year when the federal lawmakers observed that details of implementation of the capital components of the 2017 budget were not made available by the executive.
The delay in quick consideration of the budget, shifted to non-appearance of heads of the various Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, before the relevant committees of both chambers in January.
Specifically, the Senate on February 14 this year, read the riot act to heads of the agencies who had not appeared then.
The ultimatum was sequel to a point of order raised by the Senate Leader, Senator Ahmed Lawan, through a point of order.
Senator Lawan through the order, drew the attention of the Senate to the fact that of 64 government agencies, only the National Communications Commission, NCC, submitted details of its 2018 budget proposal three months after presentation of estimates by the President.
Lawan had said: “I want this Senate to give an ultimatum of one week to all the agencies to submit the details of their budget to our committees to consider for appropriation.’’
In his remarks, the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, expressed disappointment that the MDAs disregarded due process by failing to submit details of their budget proposals, saying ‘’this had been a matter we have been talking about for a very long time and these agencies continue to have total disregard for due process.
“I think it is very clear that the mandate we give to them is one week.
“Our cooperation should not be misread as weakness or not knowing what to do.
“Definitely, we can mandate the Ministry of Finance to ensure that they do not further order releases because they are breaking the law. ‘’If after the one-week and they don’t, then we will take necessary actions to show that they need to comply with the law”.
But after the compliance of the MDAs in February, appropriation committees of both chambers can be said to have spent the entire Months of March and April to tidy up the whole process.
Also recall that worried over the non passage of the 2018 Appropriation Bill, President Muhammadu Buhari in March this year, met with the leadership of both the Senate and the House of Representatives, striking a deal on how both arms of government will work in synergy to see to the quick and possible passage of the 2018 budget, for the overall interest of the country. Senate President, Bukola Saraki, and Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, had met with the President at the Presidential Villa to, among others, deliberate on the thorny aspects of the budget.
It will be recalled, further, that, in order to enable the Senate pass the national budget early, President Muhammadu Buhari made true his promise of Executive-Legislature cooperation and presented the budget November last year.
But due to what many watchers of events described as unnecessary flex of muscle between the Legislature and the Executive of same governing Party, the budget passage was delayed after promises after promises of laying by the National Assembly leadership.
It will be recalled also that Senate had, in protest of arrest of Senator Dino Melaye over criminal issue of alleged gun running and attempted escape from lawful custody and other offences, cancelled plenary to visit him in the hospital.
This and other “unnecessary” protests against the executive put together were said to be factors in the delay but our Abuja source said, “We should just thank God now that they have at least eventually laid it. Let’s hope that the passage after laying will not take another month,” the apparently angered Nigerian said.
The Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, however, cried last week, when it became apparent that the NASS had for the second time in two weeks failed to make true its promise of laying and passage of the of Appropriation Bills, highlighting the implications of the delay in passage of 2018 Budget on the economy.
