THE House of Representatives, on Tuesday, passed for a second reading, the N6.08 triliion 2016 budget presented to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari in December last year, after hot debates for and against it among members.
This came as the Speaker, Honourable Yakubu Dogara, appealed to members to put the overall interest of the people first over their own personal interest, in the consideration of the bill for passage.
Dogara pointed out that the debate so far was illuminating, adding that it should be a guide to the House in the perfection of the 2016 appropriation bill at the various committee stages in the interest of all and sundry.
Leading a number of lawmakers that kicked against the budget, House minority leader, Honourable Leo Ogor, lamented that the 2016 budget was what could best be called an incomplete budget.
Ogor declared that there were a lot of things that got missing in the budget, noting that the budget of many government agencies were conspicuously missing in the proposals.
He cited the provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Act FRA 2007, which stated that the Finance Minister shall cause to be attached to the budget, the revenue and expenditure projections of all the government agencies.
He argued that N6.33 trillion being the budget of about 15 agencies was missing in it and quoted Section 18 of the FRA that stated that: “notwithstanding anything to the contrary, the FRA shall be the basis of the laying of the annual budget.”
While noting that Nigeria “is currently facing many challenges, including depleting stock market, fall in crude oil price, among others,” Ogor pointed out the need to give Nigerians a budget that would stand the test of time.
According to him, “this is an era of change and I want to identify with the change. We have to look at this budget in a more holistic manner.”
The House leader, Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila, while countering Ogor’s claim in a point of order, said as long as the president fulfilled the constitutional requirements of laying the budget, “the issue of the Fiscal Responsibility Act does not arise.”
In his contribution, Honourable Lovette Ndisi, reiterating Ogor’s claim, said at least three proviso of the FRA had been breached, adding that the deliberations were only a mirage.
Also contributing, Honourable Jibrin Abdulmunin, chairman, House Committee on Appropriation, said “various agencies in Finance ministry should step up action in the raising of monies to fund the budget,” while calling on the various committees in the House to take oversight of the various ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) seriously, “to make sure the budget is fully implemented.”
Honourable Samson Okwu observed that the drop in the budget benchmark for crude oil price from $38 to $28 had affected government’s revenue projections in the budget, while stressing the need for government to diversify into other revenue sources apart from oil resources.
Other lawmakers, including Dennis Amad, Abdulrazak Namdas, Golu Timothy, Osai N Osai, Jerry Alagboso and Dennis Agbo, in their separate contributions, harped on the need for government to diversify the economy and reduce dependence on oil for its revenues.
Through a unanimous voice vote, the budget passed into second reading and was committed to the House Committee on Appropriation and its relevant sub-committees by the Speaker, Honourable Dogara, for further legislative inputs
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