By Sanni Onogu, Tony Akowe and Nicholas Kalu, Abuja
The Federal Government plans to spend N2.55 trillion as petrol subsidy this year.
President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday in a letter to the National Assembly requested for approval in the revised budget 2022.
The President faulted senators and House of Representatives members for inserting N887.99 billion projects in the Appropriation Act.
He directed that 139 of such projects be expunged from the budget.
He reaffirmed that the inclusion of National Assembly expenditures in the Executive budget proposal negated the principles of separation of powers and financial autonomy of the legislature.
The President asked the lawmakers to expedite action on his request to sustain the gains of an early passage of the budget.
“Given the urgency of the request for amendments, I seek the cooperation of the National Assembly for expeditious legislative action on the 2022 Appropriation Amendment Proposal in order to sustain the gains of an early passage of the budget,” the President wrote in his memo.
Buhari’s letter was read on the floor by Senate President Ahmad Lawan. Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, acknowledged receipt of the memo but did not read the content.
The speaker referred it to the relevant committees of the House for further legislative action.
In the letter, the President urged the National Assembly to “roll back” the sum of N887.99 billion projects earlier inserted by lawmakers in the 2022 Appropriation proposal.
He urged them to restore the cuts it made in the budgets of some Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in the 2022 budget.
“It is important to restore the provisions made for various key capital projects in the 2022 Executive Proposal (see details in Schedule l) that were cut by the National Assembly,” Buhari said in his memo to the lawmakers.
Insisting that what the lawmakers did to the budget contradicted the principles of separation of powers and financial autonomy of the Legislature, the President said: “It is therefore necessary to transfer the National Assembly’s expenditures totaling N16.59 billion in the Service Wide Vote to National Assembly Statutory Transfer provision (see Schedule l).”
The President explained that the N106 billion provided in the amendment request would be used as capital expenditure; N43.87billion would be spent on recurrent expenditure, adding that 139 out of the 254 projects worth N13.24 billion have been identified for deletion.
Buhari underscored the need to reinstate four capital projects valued at N1.4 billion in the executive proposal for the Federal Ministry of Water Resources and N22 billion cut from the provision for Sinking Fund to retire mature loans needed to meet government’s obligations under already Issued Bonds.
The President’s letter titled ‘Submission of the 2022 Appropriation amendment proposal’ reads: “As I indicated at the signing of the 2022 Appropriation Act, I forward herewith the Proposals for amendment of the 2022 Appropriation Act (as detailed in Schedules I-V), for the kind consideration and approval by the Senate.
“Let me seize this opportunity to once again express my deep gratitude to the leadership and members of the Senate for the expeditious consideration and passage of the 2022 Appropriation Bill as well as the enabling 2021 Finance Bill.
“It has become necessary to present this amendment proposal considering the impacts of the recent suspension of the Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) subsidy removal and the adverse implications that some changes made by the National Assembly in the 2022 Appropriation Act could have for the successful implementation of the budget.
“It is important to restore the provisions made for various key capital projects in the 2022 Executive Proposal (see details in Schedule l) that were cut by the National Assembly.
“This is to ensure that critical ongoing projects that are cardinal to this administration, and those nearing completion, do not suffer a setback due to reduced funding.
“It is equally important to reinstate the N25.81 billion cut from the provision for the power sector reform programme to meet the Federal Government’s commitment under the financing plan agreed with the World Bank.
“It is necessary to reinstate the four capital projects totaling N1.42 billion in the executive proposal for the Federal Ministry of Water Resources that were removed in the 2022 Appropriation Act.
“Furthermore, there is critical and urgent need to restore the N3 billion cut from the provision made for payment of mostly long outstanding Local Contractors’ Debts and Other Liabilities as part of our strategy to reflate the economy and spur growth (see Schedule I).
“You will agree with me that the inclusion of National Assembly’s expenditures in the executive budget negates the principles of separation of powers and financial autonomy of the legislature.
“It is therefore necessary to transfer the National Assembly’s expenditures totaling N16.59 billion in the Service Wide Vote to National Assembly Statutory Transfer provision (see Schedule l).
“It is also imperative to reinstate the N22.0 billion cut from the provision for Sinking Fund to Retire Mature Loans to ensure that government can meet its obligations under already issued bonds as and when they mature.
“The cuts made from provisions for the recurrent spending of Nigeria’s Foreign Missions, which are already constrained, are capable of causing serious embarrassment to the country as they mostly relate to office and residential rentals.
“Similarly, the reductions in provisions for allowances payable to personnel of the Nigerian Navy and Police formations and commands could create serious issues for government. It is therefore imperative that these provisions be restored as proposed (see Schedule II).
“It is also absolutely necessary to remove all capital projects replicated in the 2022 Appropriation Act; 139 out of the 254 such projects totaling N13.24 billion have been identified to be deleted from the budget.
“Some significant and non-mandate projects were introduced in the budgets of the Ministry of Transportation, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation (see Schedule III).
“There are several other projects that have been included by the National Assembly in the budgets of agencies that are outside their mandate areas.
“The Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning has been directed to work with your relevant committees to comprehensively to identify and realign all such misplaced projects.
“It is also necessary to restore the titles/descriptions of 32 projects in the Appropriation Act to the titles contained in the Executive Proposal for the Ministry of Water Resources (see Schedule IV) in furtherance of our efforts to complete and put to use critical agenda projects.
“The Appropriation Amendment request is for a total sum of N106, 161,499,052.00 only for Capital Expenditures and N43, 870,592,044.00 only for Recurrent Expenditures.
“I therefore request the National Assembly to make the above amendments without increasing the budget deficit. I urge you to roll back some of the N887.99 billion of projects earlier inserted in the budget by the National Assembly to accommodate these amendments.
“However, following the suspension of the PMS subsidy removal, the 2022 Budget Framework has been revised to fully provide for PMS subsidy (see Schedule V). An additional provision of N2.557 trillion will be required to fund the petrol subsidy in 2022.”