In Unprecedented Move, NASS Slashes 2016 Budget By N17bn

After several weeks of bickering with the executive over repetition of subheads and recurrent estimates, tagged ‘budget padding’, the Senate yesterday approved a total aggregate expenditure of N6,060,677,358,227 trillion for the executive to spend this year, 2016.

It was exactly 93 days after the budget proposal was presented to the joint session of the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday, December 22, 2015

The president had presented a total budget estimate of N6, 077,680,000,000. Of the total sum, N351,270,000,000 was for statutory transfers, N1, 475,320,000,000 for debt servicing, N2,648,600,000,000 for recurrent (non-debt), while the sum of N1,845,540,000,000, inclusive of N157,150,000,000, was for capital expenditure in statutory transfers and N86,000,000,000 was for interest on capitalised loans.

Section 80 subsections 1, 2 and 3 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, however, gives the National Assembly the powers to approve all money Bills, including annual budgets for the spending of the executive.

The Appropriations Act, Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2007 and the 1999 Constitution also allow the National Assembly to effect an upward or downward review of estimates laid before the National Assembly by the executive.

According to the highlights of the budget, as scaled down and passed yesterday by the Senate, the aggregate expenditure is N6,060,677,358,227; statutory transfers, N351,370,000.000; debt servicing, N1,475,320,000,000; recurrent expenditure, N2,646,389,236,196 trillion; capital expenditure, N1,587,598,122,031trillion; fiscal deficit, N2,204,936,925,711.16, with a deficit/GDP of 2.14%.

However, the chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Sen Danjuma Goje (APC, Gombe) while leading debate on the estimates, said his committee lamented the late presentation of the 2016 budget estimates as it affected the timely passage of the Bill.

He observed that the 2016 Appropriation Bill, after its presentation to the National Assembly, “was seen to be fraught with some inconsistencies from MDAs, given the subsequent reference by them to different versions of the budget. This was also noticed at the level of the sub-committees. This is strange and goes against proper budgetary procedures and processes, with attendant implications.”

Goje observed further that “the available revenue for appropriation was grossly inadequate to meet the huge demand of MDAs to prosecute needed programmes for national development across all spheres in the economy”.

He, however, remarked that “the 2016 Appropriation Bill seeks to stimulate the economy but the recurrent expenditure as compared to the capital component at a ratio of 30:70% is still high. This takes away from the infrastructure-stimulus funding that the country so desperately needs for development.”

He also warned that certain issues around salaries and allowances of staff at the MDAs of government be addressed subsequently by President Buhari.

“The 2016 Appropriation Bill contains a number of omissions, particularly in the area of personnel cost. Though the Appropriations Committee has filled some of the gaps, there are many outstanding cases which could raise serious concern in the course of the year”, he noted.

The Committee of Appropriations thereby recommended that “subsequent budgets should be submitted in strict compliance with the provision of the Fiscal Responsibility Act to enable the National Assembly conduct proper engagement and to conclude the budget processes in good time”.

The Committee warned that “there should be proper engagement in future between the Budget Office of the Federation and the MDAs on budget contents in order to avoid what appears to be a disconnect between them in the processing of budget proposals. This will also ensure that the Budget proposal between the two parties is in harmony”.

Goje, on behalf of the Committee, warned that government must endeavour to increase and diversify its revenue generation streams, given the yawning gap between collectible revenue and actual collections.

“Recurrent expenditure relative to capital expenditure should be driven down. Such a ratio in favour of an increased capital expenditure profile will ensure that the capital thrust of the budget is delivered to the Nigerian people.

“From the 2017 fiscal year, government should endeavour to shore up capital expenditure by substantially reducing recurrent expenditure. This is the only way to free up resources for critical infrastructure towards economic growth and development,” he advised.

The Senate Committee said in view of the economic difficulties, the Senate “reduced the size of the aggregate expenditure and consequently reduced the total recurrent, deficit and borrowing plan”.

Besides being the bulkiest budget to be passed for presidential assent since 1999, it remains the most controversial.

Lawmakers protest N115bn NASS allocation, okay 2016 budget

* Peg budget from N6.077trn to N6.060trn

There was mild drama yesterday as both chambers of the National Assembly eventually passed the 2016 Appropriation Bill into law when lawmakers in the Lower House protested the N115 billion allocation to the Parliament in the budget.

Also, the National Assembly pegged the budget from N6.077 trillion as presented by President Buhari to N6,060,677,358,277, leaving a balance of N17,002,641,773.

Some members of the House of Representatives shouted “no, no, no” when the consideration of the House Committee on Appropriation’s report on the budget got to the N115 billion provision for the National Assembly and its agencies.

But Speaker Yakubu Dogara, who is the chairman of the committee, along with his deputy, Hon. Yusuf Sulaimon Lasun, shunned the dissenting voices and hit the gavel, signifying support for the allocation.

Also, some members indicated opposition to the N100 billion allocation for the Special Intervention/Constituency Projects for the lawmakers but they were overruled.

LEADERSHIP recalls that the National Assembly’s budget has been on the decrease in the last few years – from N150 billion in the 2011 fiscal year to N120 billion in 2015 and now N115 billion.

Earlier, chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin, moved for the consideration of the report on the budget and was seconded by Hon. Nkiruka Onyejeocha.

Majority leader, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, was later asked to move for the House to revert to the Committee of Supply for the consideration of the report on the 2016 Appropriation Bill as submitted by the Appropriations Committee.

Hon. Jibrin later gave synopsis of his committee’s report and it was attended to line-by-line for voting after which the committee reverted to plenary.

Subsequently, Hon. Gbajabiamila moved for the adoption of the report at plenary and was seconded by the deputy majority leader, Hon. Buba Jibrin.

Consequently, House Rules were later suspended in order for the Third Reading of the 2016 Appropriation Bill by the Clerk of the House, signifying the passage of the Bill into an Act.

Meanwhile, at a joint press briefing later, the chairmen of Senate and House Committees on Appropriations, and Media and Public Affairs, told journalists the reason behind pegging the budget figure.

They added that the reduction was only carried out under recurrent expenditures of the budget.

The passed N6.060 trillion budget comprises N351,370,000.00 for Statutory Transfers, N1,475,320,000,000 for debt servicing; N2,646,389,236,196 for recurrent (non-debt) expenditure and N1,587,598,122,031 for capital expenditure.

Presidency commends NASS for passing 2016 Budget

The Presidency yesterday commended the National Assembly for passing the 2016 Appropriation Bill.

Special adviser to the president on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Sen. Ita Enang, told newsmen at a press briefing in Abuja that the speedy consideration and passage of the bill was laudable.

He further commended the Senate and House committees on appropriation as well as the sub-committees for working hard toward ensuring that the budget was passed.

“I followed the entire process and I saw the industry exhibited by the senators. I want to say that we appreciate particularly the fact that, in the course of consideration, the committee chairmen, the committee members and the chairmen of appropriation committees were in constant touch,’’ he said.

The special adviser further commended the legislature for approving the harmonised version of the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP), adding that they were the parameters for passing the budget.

Enang also extolled the media for their extensive coverage of the process leading to the passage of the budget.

2016 Budget: Saraki tasks senators on oversight, budget implementation

Senate President Bukola Saraki has called on standing committees of the National Assembly to improve their oversight duties and ensure the thorough implementation of the 2016 budget.

According to a statement signed by his special adviser on Print Media, Mr Chuks Okocha, the Senate president the task to the committees after the passage of the 2016 Appropriation Bill.

He also urged President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure an effective implementation of the budget, while also calling on the president to ensure that next year’s budget proposal is presented early to the National Assembly for more thorough legislative work.

He also pledged that the Senate would immediately commence the amendment of the Public Procurement Bill currently before the National Assembly as a way of aiding the effective implementation of the budget.

According to a statement by Okocha, the Senate president said: “The budget reflects efficient and equitable allocation of resources to reduce the challenges that we are all aware of. This budget is a product of bipartisan engagement, commitment and patriotism”.

According to the statement, the Senate president thanked the various committees for their untiring efforts in actualising the budget, just as he prayed that the budget promote local industries and make life better for Nigerians.

“We have all seen the earlier hiccups in the beginning of the budget and we hope that by the time we are preparing the 2017 budget, the ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) and the Budget Office would improve their level of interaction. We also hope that government itself would bring the budget much earlier to give ample time for the legislature to do its job. It is very important that we do this.

“I will also thank the Appropriation Committee and, of course, we have all noted the areas of omission and I hope the executive will be able to address the different areas that we talked about.

“I also particularly observed that we have made an effort to reduce the size of the budget, in our own view, to reduce our deficit and also reduce our level of borrowing and, as much as possible, we all want a budget that is sustainable”, he said.

“We have played our part; the different committees should do their job now in the area of oversight to ensure that we have a budget that is fully implementable”.

He added that Nigerians had been waiting for the lawmakers to pass the budget and now it is up to the implementing agencies to ensure that they get to work quickly in implementing the budget.

We on our part have one or two bills to consider, like the Public Procurement Act, so as to assist with easy implementation of the budget,” he said, even as he praised the senators for a job well done, despite the many challenges since the money bill was presented to them last December.

2016 Budget: Begin work in earnest on 2017 budget, Saraki tells PMB

Following the passage of the 2016 budget into law by the Senate, Senate President Bukola Saraki has called on the President Mahammadu Buhari-led government to begin work on 2017 budget in earnest for speedy passage.

Saraki, who stated this on his tweet post through his Twitter handle @bukolasaraki yesterday, termed the budget a ‘nationalistic’ one, which, according to him, was a product of bipartisan engagement.

He also urged Nigerian to rally support for the #BuyNaijaToGrowTheNaira campaign, promising that the Senate will give it the necessary legislative backing.

The tweets reads, “Unique thing about #Budget2016 is that for once there was no bickering over oil benchmark, @NGRSenate focused more on implementable budget

“It gives me great joy that #Budget2016 is a product of bipartisan engagement, commitment and one that is broadly nationalistic

“I assure Nigerians that @NGRSenate will ensure very stringent oversight of the implementation of #Budget2016 and ask you to partner with us.

“Yes there were few hiccups at the beginning of #Budget2016 but what we passed today is a reflection of policy direction in draft we received

“I urge the executive to please ensure that work on #Budget2017 begins in earnest so that we can have required time to fully review and pass.”