The Nation Newspaper

Tag: 2017 budget

  • Budget: NASS has no right to introduce new projects – Osinbajo

    Budget: NASS has no right to introduce new projects – Osinbajo

    …Says Buhari concerned with 2017 Budget implementation

     

    Acting President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday declared that the National Assembly has no right to introduce new projects during consideration of national budgets.

    Osinbajo, who signed the 2017 Budget into law on Monday, said that the National Assembly only has the right to allocate funds for projects in the budgetary proposals submitted by the Executive arm of government.

    Osinbajo spoke on Tuesday during the Flag-off of the 2018 Budget and ERGP Implementation Plan Development Process by the Ministry of Budget and National Planning at the old Banquet Hall of the State House Abuja.

    He also harped on the need for full attention by all Ministers, permanent secretaries and heads of government agencies to the details of the budget.

    Noting that this year is very crucial, he said that President Muhammadu Buhari is very concerned with the budget and its full implementation.

    Details Later…

     

  • Photo news: Osinbajo signing 2017 Budget

    Photo news: Osinbajo signing 2017 Budget

    Details of the budget showed that N434.4 billion was appropriated for statutory transfers to the National Judicial Council (N100 billion); Niger Delta Development Commission (N64.02 billion); Universal Basic Education (N95.2 billion); National Assembly (N125 billion); Public Complaints Commission (N4 billion); INEC (N45 billion); and National Human Rights Commission (N1.2 billion).

    Acting President Yemi Osinbajo signing 2017 Budget into Law on Monday at the State House in Abuja. Photo: NOVO ISIORO.

     

     

  • Buhari directs Osinbajo to sign 2017 Budget

    Buhari directs Osinbajo to sign 2017 Budget

    The Presidency on Monday disclosed that President Muhammadu Buhari is fully in support of Acting President Yemi Osinbajo to accent the 2017 Appropriation bill into law.

    Buhari had been in the United Kingdom since 7th of May to meet up with consultation and follow up appointments with his doctors.

    Osinbajo has been in the saddle since then as Acting President.

    The Appropriation bill has been passed by the two chambers of the National Assembly some weeks back.

    A statement by the Senior Special Assistant on media and publicity, Garba Shehu, said that it is in the interest of the nation for Osinbajo to accent to the budget.

    He said “Following the receipt of a full brief on the 2017 Appropriation Bill as passed by the National Assembly, and to buttress the unity at the highest level of government, President Muhammadu Buhari has indicated that it is in the interest of the nation’s economy for the Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, to sign the Appropriation Bill into law.

    “In a letter dated June 10, 2017, which he personally signed and addressed to the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, the President also said he was “pleased by the joint resolution that the Executive would submit next year’s budget proposals by October 2017 and the National Assembly will conclude the Appropriation process by December 2017, so that the country can return to a normal fiscal period from next year onwards.” he stated

     

  • No plan to reject 2017 budget, says Presidency

    No plan to reject 2017 budget, says Presidency

    The Presidency yesterday said that there is no plan to reject the 2017 budget as passed by the National Assembly.

    Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Senator Ita Enang, made the clarification following insinuations that the budget might be rejected by the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo.

    Enang in a statement in Abuja said that the Presidency is already working on the budget to ensure that it was assented to.

    He said that reports that the budget would be rejected by the Presidency should be disregarded.

    Enang added, “The Presidency is working within the constitutional time-frame required to process details of the 2017 budget passed by the National Assembly.

    There is no such plan by it to reject the 2017 budget passed by the National Assembly as alleged in some reports. The Presidency can only assent to the budget or withhold assent as the case maybe.

    “However, should there be areas needing input, the Presidency would engage the leadership of the Senate and House of Representatives.

    “As such, any report suggesting a rejection of the 2017 budget by the presidency is incorrect.

    “Right now, the Presidency is subjecting every detail of the budget using the available systems at its disposal to ensure the figures appropriated to MDAs are consistent with the realities on ground, while also engaging in consultations.

    “When the budget was presented to both chambers of the National Assembly for consideration last year by President Muhammadu Buhari, both chambers subjected the document to legislative processes using internal systems at their disposal.

    “This, exactly, is what the presidency is actually doing at the moment to ensure what would be eventually assented to sufficiently address the nation’s present realities, as not doing so could expose government to a backlash from Nigerians.”

     

  • Osinbajo has power to sign 2017 Budget – Enang

    Osinbajo has power to sign 2017 Budget – Enang

    The Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly matters (Senate), Mr. Ita Enang, said on Friday that Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has power to sign the 2017 Budget.

    This was 24 hours after he said President Muhammadu Buhari will sign the budget and then transmit it to the acting President for other formalities to take place.

    “The President will assent to the budget, the acting President is in office and when the budget is transmitted, it will go through the processes and all those other questions will answer itself,” he said on Thursday.

    However, Enang submitted the document to Osinbajo on Friday and clarified his earlier position, saying: “The budget as passed by the National Assembly has just been transmitted to the Acting President. I just delivered it.”

    “The Acting President has the power to assent to the budget and he will assent to it when the processes are completed.

    “The Acting President has the power to assent to the budget. In February, he assented to seven or eight bills.

    “Those that he didn’t agree with, he wrote the Senate and House of Representatives that he had withheld his assent from them.

    “He has the power of the President to assent to it. But the assent to the Appropriation Bill will be after the completion of the standard operation process. The bill has 30 days within which it will be assented to but the process can be completed within two or three days.

    “So, it is not possible to say it will be assented to in so, so and so day or in two or three days. It’s upon the completion of the process that it will be assented to by the President and the President here now is the acting President.”

    In a tweet, the Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, said the Appropriation Bill is undergoing diligent consideration.

    “2017 Budget-Appropriations Bill now officially received in the Acting President’s office and undergoing very prompt and diligent considerations,” he tweeted.

    The budget was passed by the National Assembly last week.

     

  • Breaking: Osinbajo receives 2017 Budget

    Breaking: Osinbajo receives 2017 Budget

    Acting President Yemi Osinbajo on Friday received the 2017 Appropriation bill.

    The budget was passed by the National Assembly last week.

    The document was submitted to Osinbajo by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly matters (Senate),  Ita Enang,.

    According to him, it would be assented to by the Acting President after the laid down procedure.

    Details Later…

  • Presidency yet to receive 2017 Budget – Lai Mohammed

    Presidency yet to receive 2017 Budget – Lai Mohammed

    The Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, on Wednesday said the Presidency is yet to receive the 2017 Budget passed last week by the National Assembly.

    He, however, said only the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma, has advance copy of the budget.

    Mohammed disclosed that the advance copy would be circulated to cabinet members in order to reconcile it will the proposal submitted to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari in December last year.

    Speaking with State House correspondents at the end of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting chaired by Acting President Yemi Osinbajo, the minister said there would be need for harmonization if there are discrepancies in the two documents.

    He was accompanied to the briefing by Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, Minister of FCT, Mohammed Bello and Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu.

    The tradition in the past is for the National Assembly to transmit the passed budget to the President who will then direct the relevant officials to cross-check documents or do so with them.

    Mohammed said: “In respect on the budget, it was only this (Wednesday) morning that the Minister of National Planning informed the council that the budget has been passed. He has not sent to us individually copies of the passed budget.

    “We now need to look at it against what we sent and if there is any discrepancy we will report back to the Minister of Budget and National Planning for harmonization.”

    On whether the National Assembly has transmitted the 2017 Budget to the Executive, he said “not yet but at least the Minister of Budget and National Planning‎ has gotten an advanced copy of what was passed and that is what we need to look at and compare to what we sent. It has not been transmitted officially to the presidency.”

     

     

  • Senate stops 38 agencies from expenditure of capital votes

    Senate stops 38 agencies from expenditure of capital votes

    …Gives Buhari two week ultimatum to submit budget

     

    The Senate Tuesday barred 38 corporations, agencies and parastatals from further expenditure of their capital budget 2017.

    The upper chamber also gave President Muhammadu Buhari two week ultimatum to submit the 2017 budget of corporations, agencies and parastatals of the Federal Government for consideration and approval of the National Assembly.

    It said that the submission of the budget proposals should be done within two weeks in compliance with the Fiscal Responsibility Act and the Constitution.

    It resolved that affected corporations, agencies and parastatals should stop forthwith further expenditure from their capital vote pending the submission of their 2017 budget to the National Assembly in line with Section 21 of the Fiscal Responsibility Act.

    The lawmakers further resolved that to urgently amend the Fiscal Responsibility Act to penalize infractions of non-submission of budget for appropriation.

    Only on Tuesday, the Senate said that 38 agencies are in breach of the Fiscal Responsibility Act for failure to submit their 2017 budget for approval by the National Assembly.

    The resolutions followed the unanimous adoption of a motion entitled: “Non-submission of 2017 budget by public corporations in violation of the Fiscal Responsibility Act” sponsored by Deputy Senate Leader, Senator Bala Ibn Na’Allah (Kebbi South).

    Na’Allah in his lead debate said that the Senate should be worried about the non-submission of the 2017 budget proposal by statutory corporations to the National Assembly.

    He noted that Section 21(1)(2) and (3) of the FRA stipulates that “The government Corporations and agencies and government owned companies listed in the Schedule to this Act (in this Act referred to as the Corporation) shall, not latter that six months from the commencement of this Act and for every three financial years thereafter and not later than the end of the second quarter of every year, cause to be prepared and submitted to the Minister their Schedule estimates of revenue and expenditure for the next three financial year.

    The Act also said that “Each of the bodies referred to in Section (1) of this Section shall submit to the Minister not later the end of August in each financial year: a, An annual budget derived from the estimates submitted in pursuance of subsection (1) of this section; and b, projected operating surplus which shall be prepared in line with acceptable accounting practices”…….

    Na’ Allah observed that non-compliance to the provisions of the FRA constitutes abuse of power and economic sabotage aimed at frustrating the current economic measures being taken by the present administration to address the economic recession.

    He noted that the absence of penalties in the provisions of FRA have emboldened and encouraged the perpetration of the Act.

    Na’Allah said that Senate should be concerned that the FRA is failing in its responsibility through complacence in the execution of its mandate.

    Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu who seconded the motion noted that the Constitution is supreme while its provisions shall be a binding force on all authorities and persons throughout the country.

    Ekweremadu said, “This constitution is supreme and its provisions shall have a binding force on all authorities and persons throughout the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It goes further in section 80(2) to say that “No money shall be withdrawn from the consolidated revenue fund of the federation except in the manner prescribed by the National Assembly.”

    “We are here talking about responsibility of governance. There cannot be any hard responsibility than Fiscal Responsibility because that is the beginning of all evils, we must begin to ensure that we live by the laws we make for ourselves. If we say that ministers are supposed to send the estimates of various agencies under them with the appropriation act of each year that has to be done.

    “I recall Mr. President in 2016, President Muhammadu Buhari sends to this National Assembly the appropriation bill for that year together with those estimates. While in 2017, the ministers find it impossible to accompany the same appropriation act 2017 with those estimates of the agencies under them.

    “We cannot be going forth and back. I believe that this is time for us to insist under section 88 that gives us power of oversight that this has to be done. We make laws here for the good governance of this country and that is actually what we have to insist. I believe that time has come when we are going to insist that all agencies should stop the expenditure of public funds unless it is appropriated in accordance with section 80 of the constitution which we have sworn to uphold.

    “It is our responsibility today to ensure that ultimatum is given to agencies under this government to bring this estimates for us to duly appropriate that is why the constitution provided for a full time legislature because there are enormous work to be done.”

    Senator George Thompson Sekibo (River East) asked “if a man who is to give the law fails the law but happens to him because if a man puts a law and another man fails.”

    He described the non-submission of the budget estimates of the agencies as a gross misconduct that should not be glozed over “because they are spending public funds.

    Senator Solomon Adeola said that the non-submission of the estimates is deliberate.

    He suggested that committees should meet with affected agencies.

    Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki, thank Na’Allah “for this important motion.”

    Saraki said that the motion is at the heart of the fight against corruption in the country.

    He said,”Truly this motion is at the heart of this fight against corruption and it is very important as we have seen that independent revenue, the amount of money from independent revenue even exceeds how much we get on oil revenue.

    “So, it is a huge amount to our revenue line even when we are talking about looking for money to fund projects, hospitals, education. This is where the source of the revenue are and I cannot see how we can continue in a society where we are fighting corruption where people will be spending money without approval, without appropriations, it must stop, it will stop and it is going to stop from now.

    “Clearly we have made our position that based on this amendment this agencies they must get their budget to us in two weeks and committee chairmen I want to appeal that once we get the budget on our own part as well let’s ensure that we do it publicly, very diligently and try and turn it around as quickly as possible.”

    Saraki also said that agencies that did not pass through the right channel to submit their budget to the National Assembly should do the right thing.

    Affected agencies included Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC,) Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASEI), Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA).

    Others are the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), National Maritime Authority (NMA), Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC), National Sugar Development Council (NSDC), Nigerian Postal Service (NPS), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).

    The list also includes the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), National Communications Commission (NCC), National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) and National Broadcasting Commission (NBC).

    Others are National Insurance Commission (NIC), News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Nigerian Copyrights Commission (NCC), Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS), Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Radio Nigeria, Federal Housing Authority (FHA), Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NNRA), National Business and Technical Examination Board (NABTEB), Federal Mortgage Bank, National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), Industrial Training Fund (ITF), Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), as well as Oil and Gas Free Zone Authority (OGZFA).

     

  • SERAP to Osinbajo: Reject wasteful spendings by NASS

    SERAP to Osinbajo: Reject wasteful spendings by NASS

    The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has asked the acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo to put pressure on the leadership of the National Assembly to cut its proposed budget for 2017.

    It described the proposed spending of NASS on the number of expensive official vehicles, legislative aides, travels and transportation, souvenirs, and photocopiers as “wasteful and unnecessary “.

    The organisation urged the acting President to “assent to the budget only if it truly reflects national development priorities, and not serve as a tool to satisfy the lifestyle of our lawmakers.

    “To allow public funds to be spent as proposed by the National Assembly would disproportionately affect the socially and economically vulnerable and push them deeper into poverty and deprivation”, it stated.

    It said in its letter dated May 15, 2017, and signed by SERAP executive director Adetokunbo Mumuni and addressed to the acting President, “In a country where many of our general hospitals cannot provide emergency treatment, and at a time public funds are needed to improve these facilities, it is retrogressive to spend these funds to provide exotic cars for our lawmakers or fund needless travels.

    “Such funds ought to be meaningfully spent to provide clean water, build classrooms, provide materials, train teachers and pay outstanding workers’ salaries.”

    SERAP in the letter copied to Professor Philip Alston, UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights stated further, “the more public funds that are spent to buy expensive vehicles for our lawmakers rather than servicing the new vehicles bought last year the less resources that will be available to make sure that Nigerians enjoy the right to an adequate standard of living and the rights to health, housing, food and education.”

    The letter reads in part: “When read together, the obligations under the Covenant to take steps to achieve economic and social rights progressively according to the country’s national resources implicitly forbid spending on such apparently wasteful projects. We are concerned that of the N125 billion proposed by the National Assembly in the 2017 budget, N6.4bn is to purchase official vehicles; N1.6bn to insure the vehicles; N777m to buy photocopiers; N55.623m to buy souvenirs; N807m to fuel generators; N11bn for travels and transportation; N9bn to pay legislative aides, and N750m for medical supplies.

    SERAP believes that the presidency now has the chance to show that the 2017 budget would not prioritise wasteful spending by the National Assembly over and above urgent national development priorities, and the need to improve Nigerians’ access to basic necessities such as interrupted electricity supply, quality education, affordable healthcare, clean water, good roads, as well as pay outstanding workers’ salaries across the country.

    “SERAP urges you and the presidency to require the National Assembly to justify the wave of fresh spending on several of the items purchased last year, and many of which will presumably remain in good condition.

    “SERAP also urges you to persuade the leadership of the National Assembly to henceforth adopt and use human rights budgeting as a tool of tracking Nigeria’s accountability toward economic, social and cultural rights. SERAP believes that a budget is a fundamental government tool for national development priorities and should not be a shopping list to satisfy the taste of high-ranking public officials and parliamentarians.

    “SERAP believes that the proposed spending of public funds by the National Assembly suggests that the leadership does not conceive of national budget as a blueprint for social and economic policy priorities.

    “SERAP believes that by cutting the proposed spending by the National Assembly, the presidency would be working to address and mitigate the negative effects of economic recession and crisis in the country on Nigerians living in poverty in particular and the socially and economically vulnerable in general.

    “SERAP notes that Nigeria is a state party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The Covenant guarantees to all Nigerians legally enforceable economic, social and cultural rights such as the rights to food, health, and education. The enjoyment of these rights requires a major commitment of resources from key branches of government particularly the executive and legislature for example through the instrumentality of the budget.

    “When interpreted as prescribed by Article 31 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, the Covenant will impose clear duties on your government to make national budgets comply with realising these economic, social and cultural rights. Therefore, international human rights law requires the government to use the country’s economic resources to fulfil economic, social and cultural rights. Clearly, economic resources of Nigeria are managed by fiscal policies, thus providing a direct link with the national budget.”

    “The lack of enjoyment of these human rights would increase poverty and hunger, which in turn would threaten the right to life and health of many socially and economically vulnerable, including women and children. These groups of people are bearing the brunt and feeling the impacts of the economic crisis on their standards of living, their jobs and their homes,” it added.

  • ‘2017 budget will galvanise economic growth’

    ‘2017 budget will galvanise economic growth’

    The 2017 Appropriation Bill passed by the National Assembly will galvanise economic growth and pull the country out of recession, Dr Abubakar Amuda-Kannike, member House of Representatives, has said.

    Amuda-Kannike (APC-Oyo state), made the statement on Friday in Abuja in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in his reaction to the passage of the budget.

    NAN reports that on Thursday, the National Assembly passed the 2017 Appropriation Bill of N7.44 trillion.

    The amount is N143 billion more than the N7.30 trillion budget presented to the legislature by President Muhammadu Buhari on Dec 14, 2016.

    Amuda-Kannike said: “what is giving me the confidence that we are going to have a budget of recovery and development is the appropriation of the expected revenue.

    “A good look at the budget will tell you that there is a departure from a situation where there is huge disparity between recurrent and capital projects value in the budget.

    “This year, we are looking at a situation where 30 per cent of the budget will be for capital projects.

    “Before now, we used to have about 60 per cent of our budget for recurrent expenditure.

    “There was no proper focus on capital projects; there is no economy that will grow or recover if the government does not invest on capital projects.’’

    The legislator pointed out that the 2017 budget would not only address the huge infrastructural deficit in the country, it would also guarantee conducive environment crucial for economic activities to thrive.

    “We had situations where manufacturers were moving out of Nigeria to neighbouring countries where the conditions were more encouraging which made Nigerians to loose their jobs.

    “But now we are focusing on infrastructure and this will engineer growth.

    “You will now see more roads are going to be constructed, we will have more power generation and electricity will become more constant and there is going to be more infrastructure,’’ he added.

    Speaking during plenary on Thursday, Rep. Mustapha Dawaki, chairman, House Committee on Appropriation, said the 2017 budget was increased by over N143 billion to cater for some critical sectors of the economy.

    Dawaki explained that N10 billion was appropriated for the construction of the second Abuja runway.

    He said that funds were also provided for the long abandoned Itakpe-Warri rail line.

    “Others are funding for Ajaokuta airstrip, the inland water ways and increased funding for the amnesty programme in the Niger Delta to ensure stability in the region,’’ he added.

    He said that the expected additional revenue from increased benchmark price of crude oil from USD 42.50 to USD 44.50 and the under listed budgetary needs, prompted the committee to increase the budget to N7.44 trillion.

    A breakdown of the budget showed that N2.1 trillion was appropriated for capital expenditure and N2.9 trillion for recurrent expenditure.

    The Ministry of Power, Works and Housing had the highest capital expenditure of N533 billion, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development got N103.7 billion while the Ministry of Education got N56.7 billion.