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Tag: 2017 budget

  • Senate gives CBN, NNPC, Customs, others seven- day ultimatum to submit budgets

    Senate gives CBN, NNPC, Customs, others seven- day ultimatum to submit budgets

    The Senate on Wednesday gave the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Nigerian Customs Service, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and 34 other statutory federal agencies a seven- day ultimatum to submit their 2017 budgets to the National Assembly for vetting and passage into law.

    The upper chamber said the directive for the agencies and corporations to submit their budgets to the National Assembly was in line with the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007.

    The directive followed the observation by the Senate leader, Senator Ahmed Lawan, that a greater number of the statutory agencies and corporation have failed to comply with the requirement of the Fiscal Responsibility Act to submit their 2017 budget proposals for scrutiny by the National Assembly.

    Lawan noted that ordinarily, the budget proposals of the agencies should have been presented with the 2017 Appropriation Bill presented by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    He noted that it has become necessary for the agencies to submit their budgets for consideration and passage before the National Assembly goes on recess.

    He insisted that the submission of the budget proposals must be done within the week to enable the parliament do its constitutional duty.

    Senate President, Bukola Saraki, agreed with Lawan that the consideration and approval of the budgets must be concluded before the end of the session.

    Saraki said it was imperative to pass the budgets before the Senate goes on recess to pave the way for its full implementation.

     

  • Why Lagos Assembly seeks mid-year review of 2017 budget

    Why Lagos Assembly seeks mid-year review of 2017 budget

    The Lagos State House of Assembly is to embark on mid-year review of the 2017 budget of the state. It will also include the last quarter of 2016, The Nation can authoritatively report.

    This was a resolution the House passed at plenary at the weekend sequel to a motion co-sponsored by seven lawmakers in the House.

    The major sponsor of the motion is the Chairman of House Committee on Budget and Economic Planning, Hon. Rotimi Olowo and others including: Hons. Sanai Agunbiade, Majority Leader; Olumuyiwa Jimoh, Deputy Majority Leader; Oduntan Omotayo, Deputy Chief Whip; Adefunmilayo Tejuoso (Mushin 1) and Bayo Osinowo (Kosofe 1).

    While moving the motion, Olowo observed that the state government has embarked on a lot of infrastructural development in the 57 local councils of the state as provided in the N812.9 budget estimate for 2017 and that it is their opinion that to make projection for 2018 budget it is imperative to look at the budget estimate and performance of the budget for the last quarter of 2016 and half year of 2017 “to ensure that the budget performed holistically and that all the MDAs were adequately funded and have performed appreciatively.”

    Speaking with our correspondent, Olowo said,  “the exercise will give us an insight into the budget projection for 2018 in as much as Lagos State is considered to be the sixth economy in Africa and that means we are expecting over N1trillion budget in 2018, but this will be predicated on the performance of the budget in the period under review through which we will make introspection and project for what will happen for the remaining part of the year.

    “We are going to do what I call trend analysis and comparative analyses of what they did last year and previous years to be able to know what we are going to do for the second leg of the year and project into what we can do in 2018,” Olowo said.

    According to him, with the decline in the money coming from the federation account it means the state have to do something to compensate for the decline so as to meet up with the anticipated N1t budget for 2018.

    “To be able to meet that target we have to start running at ensuring that all those observed anomalies are corrected now so that by the time we get to December it is going to be like a child’s play for us to achieve the set target and be able to project over N1t budget in 2018,” he said.

    Olowo said the exercise is going to have a positive impact on the 2018 budget “because everybody is going to be working tirelessly to ensure that they meet their revenue target.

    “We want to make 2018 budget a feasible and workable one as against being dreamers. Our budget must be feasible, physical, practicable and based on precedence and this year January to December will be part of the precedence.”

  • Budget comments: Senate attacks Fashola

    Budget comments: Senate attacks Fashola

    The Senate Wednesday descended on Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, over his comments that the National Assembly distorted the 2017 budget by inserting new projects in the budget.

    The upper chamber warned the minister to desist forthwith from accusing the National Assembly of over stepping its bound in the budget preparation.

    Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriation, Senator Mohammed Danjuma Goje who raised the issue, said that Fashola should be told in clear terms that the National Assembly is not Lagos State House of Assembly.

    He said that the National Assembly must not be treated as Lagos State House of Assembly by the minister.

    Goje said that Fashola should also appreciate the fact that the Senate is constituted by former governors and former ministers.

    The Gombe Central lawmaker said that the Senate would await the result of the House of Representative handling of the issues raised by Fashola before deciding the next line of action.

    Goje said that since the Senate and the House are running the same National Assembly, further action may be taken pending the decision of the House on the matter.

    Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki who said that the issue was not open for debate also said that it was good that the House of Representative was handling the matter.

    Saraki said that the actions of the House would determine whether the Senate would take the matter to another level.

    He said that it was important that Goje raised the issued and asked Senator to exercise patient until the conclusion of the engagement by the House.

  • Senate to Fashola: Quit if the job is too much

    Senate to Fashola: Quit if the job is too much

    The Senate on Wednesday advised the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), to quit his position if he cannot cope with the volume of work in the ministry.

    The upper legislative chamber also accused the minister of misleading the public with his “controversial comments” on the 2017 budget

    The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Senator Danjuma Goje, stated these during Wednesday’s plenary.

    He said: “Initially, I wanted to come under a motion but, yesterday (Tuesday), the House of Representatives took up the matter. Since we are on the same page with the House, I feel I should not come under a motion. But I will like to seize this opportunity to advise the minister that he should remember that he is now a minister and should behave like a minister.

    “He is not a governor (anymore) and this National Assembly is not Lagos State House of Assembly. This is an Assembly composed of very patriotic Nigerians, very experienced Nigerians; many had done his job; many were governors before him.”

    “Fashola should know that he is dealing with the National Assembly of Nigeria, not of Lagos. If the job is too much for him – the ministry is too big; it comprises three ministries, which are works, housing and power. If he cannot adjust, then, he should do the honourable thing. He should so the needful.

    “No amount of blackmail by him; no amount of propaganda by him or his surrogates will stop this National Assembly from discharging its duties in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution. We have sworn to uphold and protect this Constitution, and this we will do to the end of this Assembly.

    “For now, I will cease fire and watch to see how the House will handle him. If he is well handled there, we will leave him with them. But if we are not satisfied and they pass him to us, then, we will take him over.”

     

  • Reps summon Fashola over comments on 2017 budget

    Reps summon Fashola over comments on 2017 budget

    The House of Representatives on Tuesday summoned the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, to appear before its adhoc committee and defend comments he reportedly made on the 2017 budget.

    The committee is headed by Hon. Aliyu Madaki (APC Kano).

    The minister is expected to explain the rationale behind the comments and “why he is inciting Nigerians against the National Assembly.”

    The House decision was sequel to a motion brought under privilege by one Sadiq Abubarkar and passed by majority votes.

    Fashola had claimed recently that one of the spokesmen of the National Assembly did not have a grasp of issues relating to the 2017 budget.

    “This showed very stark and worrisome gaps in knowledge of the spokesperson about the budget process he was addressing,’’ the minister said.

    The date for the hearing has not been announced.

     

  • Lawmakers to review 2017 budget

    Lagos lawmakers to review the performance of the state’s budget for the last quarter of 2016 and first half of this year.

    The exercise will enable them open the performance of ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).

    The lawmakers’ action followed yesterday’s observation the House Committee on Budget and Economic Planning, Chairman Rotimi Olowo that reviewing the budget performance in the past six months and last quarter of 2016 would help give direction to the 2018 budget, which he said, could be up to N1trillion.

    “The exercise will help scrutinise how the MDAs are doing in terms of the revenue generated as well as their level of compliance with their capital and recurrent expenditure,” he said.

    Many lawmakers including Majority Leader Sanai Agunbiade said the exercise would reveal whether the budget is doing well.

    Jude Idimogu, representing Oshodi-Isolo 2, said the exercise would help to scrutinise the activities of the ministries.

    He questioned the performance of the agencies in charge of road maintenance, saying many roads had become unusable since the rains started.

    Speaker Mudashiru Obasa said budget review should not be done yearly only, but periodically, so that any perceived loophole could be plugged.

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Fashola’s budget proposal failed integrity test – Reps

    Fashola’s budget proposal failed integrity test – Reps

    The House of Representatives said on Wednesday it would not allow the nation’s resources to be unfairly distributed to the detriment of any section of the country.

    The lawmakers said the National Assembly was forced to tinker with the  2017 budget because the proposal presented by President Muhammadu Buhari for Ministry of Works,  Power and Housing failed integrity test as it was skewed to favour a section of the country.

    The House Spokesman, Abdulrazaq Namdas, said in a statement the time was ripe for Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, to know that it was the duty of the National Assembly to ensure fairness in the distribution of nation’s resources.

    He said: “We need to remind Mr. Fashola that the National Assembly is a national institution made up of members from all geo-political zones, they represent all tendencies, interests and ethnic nationalities.

    “It has a responsibility also to ensure balance in the distribution of road projects and other developmental facilities.

    “It cannot watch our national patrimony unfairly skewed to one region or a few regions to the detriment of other states and geo-political zones.

    “The proposal from Mr. President on the 2017 Budget of the Ministry of Works, Power and Housing did not pass this test.

    “This partly informed the intervention of National Assembly so that every region can be carried along in project allocation.”

  • Nigeria needs transparent budgeting system – NLC

    Nigeria needs transparent budgeting system – NLC

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) said on Tuesday the 2017 budget failed to address basic welfare needs of Nigerian workers.

    The president of the NLC, Ayuba Wabba, said the country’s budgeting process was not transparent enough, adding for purpose of integrity, Nigeria needs a very transparent budgeting system that would take suggestions from all segments of the society.

    He said the 2017 budget did not properly capture the welfare of workers, stressing that the over N300 billion pension arrears owed pensioners, especially those involved in the contributory pension scheme were not captured in the budget.

    Wabba said: “We have made the issue severally that our budget process is not transparent enough. If you look at the estimate of this year’s budget, you will discover that a lot of issues that has to do with the welfare of workers have not been captured very well.

    “One example is the issue of pension. There is a liability of over N300 billion that ought to be accommodated in the budget for the payment of pension, particularly the contributory pension scheme. We have interfaced with the leadership of the National Assembly to see how we can accommodate it. But this has not been accommodated.

    “There are also allowances which have not been earned but a portion of it had been provided in the budget. So, in terms of how the budget directly affects the workers, I think some of the issues certainly have not being captured very effectively.”

    Wabba also condemned the late implementation of the budget, saying substantial time had been lost on the matter.

    “Our position is that whatever needs to be done, should to be done properly, especially the capital projects that has to do with critical infrastructures.

    “These issues can kick start the economy and then stimulate the economy and create jobs for the teeming unemployed youths in the country. As it stands now, we are not producing and when those critical sectors are not working, we will remain in a pathetic situation that we will not be able to get out from.”

    “I think there is a need for a transparent budget process so that it would start very early and be open for public scrutiny and also input can be made into the process. This will address the very critical issues of our development. This is because if you look at some aspect of the budget, the overhead seems to be much more than the capital budget,” the NLC president stated.

     

  • No court empowered NASS to increase budget – Falana

    No court empowered NASS to increase budget – Falana

    Activist-lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), on Tuesday faulted the National Assembly’s claim that the Federal High Court empowered it to increase budget estimates.

    The lawyer said he was the plaintiff in a 2014 suit that challenged the National Assembly oversight powers on the budget, adding that although it was dismissed for lack of locus standi, the court never made such a pronouncement.

    Falana said he challenged the extent of the National Assembly’s oversight powers to rewrite the Appropriation Bill or increase the budget estimates presented to it by the President.

    He said in dismissing the case, Justice Gabriel Kolawole questioned his legal right to institute the action and described him as a “meddlesome interloper” despite acknowledging him as “a renowned human rights crusader.”

    He said, “No doubt, the learned trial judge said the National Assembly is not a rubber stamp parliament. The incontestable statement has since been twisted to give the very erroneous impression that the power of the National Assembly to increase the budget has been judicially recognised.

    “In the entire 22-page judgment the learned trial judge never said that the National Assembly has the power to increase any budget proposal submitted to it by the President. On the contrary, the Federal High Court made it categorically clear that the National Assembly lacks the legislative powers to prepare ‘budget estimates’ for the President or ‘disregard the budget proposals laid before it and substitute it with its own estimates.

    “Even though I have taken the legal battle over the dismissal of the case to the Court of Appeal, I wish to state, without any fear of contradiction, that the learned trial judge concurred with my submission that the Constitution has not vested the National Assembly with powers to increase the budget.”

    Falana quoted Justice Kolawole as saying: “The whole essence of the ‘budget estimates’ being required to be laid before the third defendant (National Assembly), is to enable the third defendant as the assembly of the representatives of the people, to debate the said ‘budget proposals’ and to make its own well informed legislative inputs into it.

    “What the third defendant cannot do is to prepare ‘budget estimates’ for the first defendant (President) or to disregard the proposals laid before it and substitute it with its own estimates. The rationale for this is simple: It is the Executive Arm under the leadership of the 1st Defendant that controls and superintends all agencies, corporations and commissions that generate the revenue for the running of the government.”

    According to Falana, the judge rightly stated that the National Assembly was not a “rubber stamp parliament” because it is empowered to debate and make its informed inputs into budget proposals.

     

  • 2017 Budget: Workers welfare not properly captured – NLC

    2017 Budget: Workers welfare not properly captured – NLC

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) says workers welfare is not properly captured in the 2017 national budget.

    The NLC President, Mr. Ayuba Wabba, said this while speaking with newsmen on Tuesday in Abuja.

    “Our budget system is not transparent enough, if you look at the estimate of this year budget, a lot of issues have arisen, especially the allocations for capital and current expenditure.

    “But importantly, the fact also is that a lot of issues pertaining to the welfare of workers have not been properly captured.

    “On the issue of pension, we are very certain and convinced because there is a liability presently of over N300 billion that is supposed to be accommodated in the budget for the payment of pensions.

    “Especially the contributory pension scheme which actually we have interfaced with the leadership of the National Assembly to try to see how this can be accommodated.

    “And we are all aware that this has not been captured adequately. There are also some earned allowances which also have not being earned but a portion of it has being provided in the budget.

    “So, in terms of how the budget directly affects the workers, I think some of the issues certainly have not being captured very effectively,” he said.

    On the overall performance of the 2017 budget, Wabba noted that time was of essence.

    He, however, decried the late implementation of the budget, saying that substantial time has been lost in the preparation that ought to have taken effect.

    “Therefore our position is whatever needs to be done, needs to be done properly.

    “Especially, the capital projects that have to do with putting in place our very importantly critical infrastructure need to receive the most desired attention.

    “So that those issues can then kick start the economy and then stimulate the economy and create jobs for the teeming unemployed youth in the country.

    “Because, one, we are not producing and ones those critical sectors are not working then we will remain in pathetic situation that we will not be able to get out of it,” the NLC president said.

    Wabba added that the process and the manner of implementation of the national budget has certainly not being encouraging to Nigerians.

    He noted that a study of the figures in the budget shows that, major priorities were given to areas that do not address the fundamental issues that Nigerians are passing through.

    “I think there is a need for a transparent budget process where it would start very early and it will be open for public scrutiny and also the input can be made into the process.

    “This will be able to address the very critical issues of our development, because if you look at some aspects of the budget, the overhead seems to be much more than the capital budget.

    “I think that is not good for us, that is not good for our system and that is why we are in this situation,’’ according to Wabba.