The Nation Newspaper

Tag: budget

  • NASS exceeded its bounds on budget

    SIR:  There has been a lot of back and forth as to the powers of the National Assembly (NASS) to initiate projects and tinker with the budget presented to it by the executive.

    Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, was quoted as saying that NASS has powers to introduce projects in the budget document. The statement is at variance with the provision of the constitution.  The powers of the National Assembly with regards to the passage of the Appropriation Bill is limited to giving authorization for spending on estimates of revenue and expenditure presented to it by the executive.

    Section 80 (2) of the constitution states: “No moneys shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation except to meet expenditure that is charged upon the fund by this Constitution or where the issue of those moneys has been authorized by an Appropriation Act …” This simply means that funds cannot be withdrawn by the federal government if it has not been authorized by the National Assembly – upon passage of the Appropriation Bill into law.

    Section 80 (3) goes further to state: “No moneys shall be withdrawn from any public fund of the federation, other than the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the federation, unless the issue of those moneys has been authorized by an Act of the National Assembly.’’

    From the foregoing, it is important to observe that the powers of NASS as contained in the two sections relate to the power to ‘authorize’ spending of money, and not projects. In other words, the power to give permission, an official approval that money can be spent.

    The legislative powers of authorization are further expounded in Section 80 (4) which provides that “No moneys shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund or any other public fund of the Federation, except in the manner prescribed by the National Assembly.”

    The last sentence of that sub-section, which reads: “Except in the manner prescribed by the National Assembly,” seems to be the bone of contention. It forms the bases on which the members of NASS assumed that they have the powers to initiate or add projects into the budget document sent to them by the President.

    The fact that the same Constitution, following immediately after S. 80 (4), at S. 81 (1) vests in the President the powers and duty, to “cause to be PREPARED and LAID before each House of the National Assembly … estimates of the revenues and expenditure of the Federation” for the financial year, shows that the powers of preparing projects to be embarked on by the Federal Government rests solely on the executive. Nowhere in the constitution does it give express or implied powers to the National Assembly to initiate projects or compel the executive to embark on projects demanded for by the legislature. Traditionally, the lawmakers can lobby the executive for the inclusion of certain projects in the budget.

    The argument put forward by some NASS members that in America, where Nigeria copied its Presidential system of government, the legislature is allowed to initiate special projects is faulty in the sense that the Nigerian constitution has already provided expressly for the powers of the executive and the legislature with regard to the appropriation process. This implies that there is no need for derivative speculation from abroad when the literal interpretation of constitutionally specified powers is not ambiguous. Secondly, the initiation of projects by the U.S. Senate, popularly known as ‘pork-barrel projects’ is largely considered by the American public as unconstitutional, and corrupt. The other form of it, called ‘Earmarks’ has been banned since 2011.

    There is absolutely no need for the legislature to desire a usurpation of the constitutional powers of the executive. If the constitution desired that the NASS should initiate projects, it would have expressly stated that it PREPARES and LAYS before itself the budget.

     

    • Johannes Wojuola,

    Abuja.

  • Bank customers enlightened on budget, taxation

    The Lead Partner, Tax and Regulatory Services, Deloitte West Africa, Yomi Olugbenro has at a forum in Lagos, educated bank customers on the impact of budget, exchange rate and  lending rates on their businesses.

    The tax expert, who spoke on the theme: ‘’The Nigeria Budget & Fiscal Focus 2017:  “Overview of budget, economic recovery & growth  plan and National Tax Policy”, explained that the N7.44 trillion 2017 budget represents an increase of 23 per cent over that of the previous year in naira terms and explained that dearth of infrastructure and other micro-economic indicators have increasingly made it challenging for businesses to thrive compared to counterparts in similar economies.

    Speaking also on taxation, the ease of doing business, interest rate, foreign exchange market, government borrowing and lending rates, he advised for business owners to seek the right information as it relates to their  businesses while ensuring a clear understanding of policies and systems within the local economy to enable ease of transactions.

    Speaking on the budget, he said: ‘‘The budget is an integral part of the economic recovery and growth plan. While there’s noticeable alignment between the federal government budget and the economic recovery & growth plan, full implementation of capital project is critical to achieving desired developments and recovery.”

    He added that the 2017 budget is a catalyst for economic recovery and is expected to stimulate the economy, build infrastructure, deliver growth and dependent on non-oil revenue and borrowing. Allocations to works, Power & Housing and Transport show serious intention to develop infrastructure 25 per cent of capital expenditure.

    The forum was organised by Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria for select clients of the bank to provide insight on aspects of the budget and its impact to businesses within the Nigerian economy.

    Explaining objectives of the forum, Head, Retail Banking, Standard Chartered Bank, Ebehijie Momoh,  said the primary objective was to add value to clients of the bank.

  • Ondo Assembly passes N170.8b budget

    Ondo Assembly passes N170.8b budget

    The Ondo State House of Assembly yesterday passed this year’s N170.8 billion Appropriation Bill.

    House Finance and Appropriation Committee Chairman  Sunday Olajide presented the report of his panel at plenary.

    Olajide said the bill had been scrutinised by members, adding that public sittings were held for ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) on their allocations in the budget.

    The lawmaker said the Assembly refrained from granting indiscriminate requests by MDAs because of paucity of funds.

    He added that the committee only redistributed funds to some critical areas with a marginal increase of N1.12 billion.

    Olajide said: “The overall budgetary provision will now be N170,846,580,000.”

    The chairman highlighted the observation of his committee that this year’s expenditure was carefully projected and set at sustainable level with due consideration for the current economic realities.

    He said the committee recommended that MDAs should ensure that the provisions in the budget were applied to stipulated needs, while the Board of Internal Revenue should block leakages.

    The state government, Olajide added, should take steps to propel income-generating MDAs to embark on internally generated revenue (IGR) drive in line with extant laws to achieve their revenue target.

    Speaker David Oleyelogun thanked members of the committee for doing a good job.

    He also hailed other members of the Assembly for their cooperation and diligence while working on the appropriation bill.

    NAN reports that the budget increased by N1.12 billion when compared to the N169,720,580 billion earlier presented by Governor Rotimi Akeredolu on June 5.

    The budget put the recurrent expenditure at N95.15 billion, capital expenditure at N59.18 billion, debt service at N8.12 billion and statutory transfer at N8.37 billion.

    NAN also reports that the Assembly unanimously approved the budget after members deliberated on the report of the committee.

     

     

  • Fed Govt lists projects to be funded from budget

    Fed Govt lists projects to be funded from budget

    The Federal Government has set aside N100 billion for the construction and rehabilitation of 65 roads and bridges to enhance transportation, according to  Minister of Budget and National Planning, Sen. Udoma Udo Udoma.

    He said the amount was earmarked for the rehabilitation of Lagos/Ibadan road, N13.1 billion for Kano/Maiduguri road and N10.63 billion for Enugu/Port- Harcourt road.

    “We have N7 billion for the second Niger Bridge which connects the East with the rest of the country on that sides because it connects not just from Delta but all the way to Lagos.

    “N7.12 billion for Abuja/Abaji/Lokoja road, N9.25 billion for the Obajana junction to Benin road, N7.5 billion for the Onitsha/Enugu dual carriage way and N7 billion for the construction of the Bodo/Boni road.

    “Let me say something about the Bodo/Boni road, it is again one of the things that this government is doing, we are tapping private sector partnership for infrastructure.

    “This is a partnership between the Federal Government and the LNG company and we want to make sure that the road can be completed quickly,’’ said the minister.

    Udoma said that N3.3 billion was earmarked for the rehabilitation of the Ilorin/Jaba road, N3.5 billion for the dualisation of Odukpaleitu and N1.5 billion for the dualisation of the Kano/Katsina road.

    He said that N2.24 billion was allotted for the dualisation of Suleja/Minna road, N2.3 billion for Gombe/Numan/Yola road and N2.7 billion for Kano/Western by-pass, among others.

    He said: “ Nigerians must be able to move around, goods and services must be able to move around, you cannot talk about industrialisation unless you can move goods and services around.

    “So, that is important and that is why we have voted so much to roads and transportation.”

    Udoma said funds had been allotted for the construction of the terminal building at Enugu Airport, rehabilitation of Abuja Airport and the inland ports and supply of cargo hanging equipment at Baro.

    On healthcare, the minister said: “We have voted N4.8 billion for the global fund and GAVI counterpart funding, while N4.8 billion for polio eradication initiative.

    “And I did say that water is life, so we have over a hundred billion naira for water supply, rehabilitation of dams and irrigation projects nationwide.

    “We have N6.5 billion for rural roads and water sanitation and N4.13 billion for guaranteed minimum price payment.

    “ Rural roads are important because our farmers are in rural areas and a lot of their produce is wasted because of the difficulty of evacuation, access roads will be provided to the farmers.

    “We have earmarked about N20 billion for the promotion and development of value chain across the different commodities and we are doing them item by item.”

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • At last, Budget 2017

    •Though late, there is still hope if well implemented

    Acting President Yemi Osinbajo signed Budget 2017 into law on June 12 . Presented to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari on December 14, 2016, it was designed to be the springboard for realising the Federal Government’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP). If Nigerians had expected swift action on the budget in the background of the economic recession, our National Assembly members would appear not bothered about any such sense of urgency. The result is a budget coming seven months late.

    Even at that, controversies around the budget continue to swirl. To start with, the executive had proposed a budget of N7.3 trillion only to have it jacked up to N7.44 trillion by the National Assembly. For a budget with a huge deficit component, the latter would appear not to have bothered about where the additional cash would come from. However, while slashing the votes of the ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), the same National Assembly will find nothing wrong in increasing its own votes from N115 billion to N125 billion.

    There is also the issue of 400 ‘strange projects’ inserted by the lawmakers. The presidency insists that these projects – mostly roads, health centres, recreational centres, water and electricity schemes fall squarely under the purview of states and local governments. It contends  – and perhaps rightly so –  that the implementation of the projects would be problematic, particularly as they were neither designed nor evaluated by any agency of the Federal Government.

    Finally, as in every budget cycle, the two arms of government are again at each other’s throats over the authority of the lawmakers to include items outside of those proposed by the executive.

    That is how far Budget 2017 has come. The ‘troubles’ however are only just beginning. By far the most potentially problematic is funding. The tax base remains constricted, hence the failure of the tax revenue to live truly to its potentials. Oil prices, though relatively upbeat, remain volatile just as fears of production hiccups persist – no thanks to the fragile peace in the Niger Delta. These obviously make projected revenues at best, an educated guess.

    Just as problematic is the country’s growing debts. This year for instance, the Ministry of Budget and National Planning projects that the country’s total debt stock would rise to N19.3tn by the end of the year – up by N6.72tn from the 2016 figure of N12.58tn.  The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on its part projects that Nigeria’s debt to GDP ratio would surge by 100 per cent, from 12.1 per cent in 2015 to 24.1 per cent in 2018.

    Meanwhile, the Federal Government insists that the nation’s debt is sustainable.

    Be that as it may, critics however refer to the huge burden of debt service in the budget. A whopping N1.84tn is allocated for debt servicing – representing 24.73 per cent of the budget. By comparison, the entire capital vote is only some few notches up at 29.30 per cent. Clearly, while the Federal Government may claim that the country has little to worry about in the size of the debt, the fact that the sum voted for debt service exceeds the N1.34tn allocated to the ministries of agriculture, education, health, power, works and housing; transport, solid minerals, defence, police, trade and investment, and Niger Delta combined, makes the situation truly troubling.

    Nonetheless, the 2017 budget is here. Nigerians are expectant that it would help lift the economy from the recession. While we harbour no illusions that the budget – or any single budget for that matter – can perform magic in the face of the huge infrastructure gap, there is little doubt that a scrupulous implementation can make a lot of difference. The challenge, therefore, is for those charged with implementation to find the necessary discipline to implement– particularly those elements that can truly improve the living standards of the citizens.

  • Saraki, Dogara faults Osinbajo’s budget remark

    Saraki, Dogara faults Osinbajo’s budget remark

    Govt to head for Supreme Court

    Acting President Yemi Osinbajo yesterday drew the ire of Senate President Bukola Saraki and Speaker Yakubu Dogara over his comments on the National Assembly’s increase of the budget from N7.28 trillion to N7.44 trillion.

    At plenary in both chambers, Saraki and Dogara said the lawmakers did not overreach themselves by jacking up the budget.

    The Senate would not surrender its constitutional powers to the executive, Saraki said, in reaction to an issue raised by Deputy Senate Leader Bala Ibn Na’Allah.

    The House of Representatives, Dogara noted, would not be a rubber stamp. He was reacting to an order on the breach of privilege brought by Abubakar Lawal (Adamawa).

    The Presidency will seek the Supreme Court’s interpretation on the issue, it was learnt last night.

    A source told our correspondent that the Acting President would not take up issues with the lawmakers, but “will soon head for the apex court to seek the interpretation of that section of the Constitution to clear any ambiguity therein.”

    The source said: “We cannot be going forward and backwards on the same issue every year.”

    Signing the budget on Monday, Osinbajo said there were two broad issues about who could do what.

    “The first report is about who can do what. When you present a budget to the National Assembly, it is presented as a bill, an appropriation bill. And secondly, do not introduce entirely new projects and all of that or modify projects. This is something that we experienced last year and this year again. It now leaves the question about who is supposed to do what,” he said.

    Saraki said even when the upper chamber bends backward to accommodate issues such gesture should not be misconstrued to mean weakness or that the constitutional powers assigned to it did not exist.

    The Senate, Saraki insisted, would continue to defend the Constitution and ensure that its actions are covered by the Constitution at all times.

    Raising the issue, Na’ Allah said: “I want to make a personal explanation on the media reports credited to the Acting President to the effect that the National Assembly does not possess any power to alter the budget submitted to it by the Executive. I offer an explanation that we have operated this Constitution from 1999 to date.

    “I am sure that everybody who knows me knows that I have some limited understanding of the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I have also had the privilege to work with the Acting President while I was practising in Lagos as a lawyer.

    “We did a lot of things together. So, he is somebody that I know so much, that I will rather believe that what was alleged to have been said could not have been said by him and even if he spoke on the matter, he was misquoted.

    “For the avoidance of doubt, this same Constitution we operated from 1999 to date has section 80, and the title of section 80 is ‘Power and Control over Public Funds’.

    “I read: All revenues or other monies raised or received by the Federation not being revenues of other monies payable under this Constitution or any Act of the National Assembly into any other Public Fund of the Federation established for a specific purpose shall be payable to and for one consolidated fund of the Federation.

    “Two says: No monies shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation except to meet expenditure that is charged upon the Fund by the Constitution or where the issue of those monies has been authorised by an Appropriation Act, Supplementary Appropriation Act or Act passed in pursuance of Section 81 of the Constitution.

    “Three: No money shall be withdrawn from any public funds of the Federation other than the Consolidated revenue fund of the Federation unless the issue of those monies has been authorised by an Act of the National Assembly.

    “Four, No money shall be withdrawn from the Consolidated revenue Fund or any other public fund of the Federation except in the manner prescribed by the National Assembly.”

    “That is the provision.

    “The reason for this provision is that the Constitution recognises that Nigeria operates a federal structure, and it further goes on to recognise that it is multi-lingual, multi-ethnic, multi-religious.

    “Therefore, in the constitution-making process, a lot of issues for domination and fear for domination were raised.

    “That is why the framers of the constitution provided for representation on the basis of population and land mass and on the basis of equality of states.

    “This is what gave birth to a bicameral legislature, the Senate and the House of Representatives. The House provides representation based on population and land mass while the Senate is based on equality of states.

    “So, I know that the Acting President who is a Professor of Law is sufficiently trained in law to know that the National Assembly has powers to tinker with the budget.

    “I am not making a case for him and I do not want to believe that he said what has been alleged that he said.

    “I also want to assuage the fears of my colleagues that what was alleged to have been said does not represent the spirit of the framers of our Constitution. This explanation is necessary so that we put this matter to rest.”

    Saraki, who did not allow a debate on the matter, said: “I too have a lot of our colleagues coming up to us regarding the 2017 budget. I cannot agree with you less. I am sure that the Acting President must have been misquoted because there is clearly no ambiguity in the Constitution of the responsibility of the National Assembly.

    “This matter has been cleared and settled. So, I don’t think there are any issues here that are vague. I will like to believe too that the Acting President must have been wrongly quoted.

    “But at the same time, I want to say that there are times we have a number of consultations and I want to make it clear that these consultations we do with the Executive will not at any time mean that we will give up the powers we have in line with the Constitution.

    “I want to reassure our members on this because it is very important based on what we have heard, you may be concerned that one way or another leadership had given up some of these powers.

    “That is not the case. But I believe that as responsible statesmen, there are times we consult and do our best to work with the Executive and assist them.

    “But as we bend backwards, I don’t think that should be misrepresented that powers given to us in the Constitution do not exist.

    “That is not the case, and this Senate will continue to defend the Constitution and ensure that anything we do is in line with the laws of the land.”

    At the House, Dogara said it was difficult to believe that the Acting President could say such thing.

  • Budget: National Assembly can’t introduce projects,  says Osinbajo

    Budget: National Assembly can’t introduce projects,  says Osinbajo

    Acting President Yemi Osinbajo yesterday  declared that the National Assembly had 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 could only allocate funds for projects in the budgetary proposals submitted by the Executive.

    Osinbajo spoke on Tuesday during the flag-off of the 2018 budget and ERGP Implementation Plan Development Process organised 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 all ministers, permanent secretaries and heads of government agencies to pay attention to the details of the budget.

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

    He said: “Now there are these two broad issues about who can do what. When you present budget to the National Assembly, it is presented as a bill, an appropriation bill. Firstly, the National Assembly has the right to allocate funds to projects in the budget proposal.

    “And secondly, do not introduce entirely new projects and all of that or modify projects. This is something that we experienced this last year and again. It now leaves the question about who is supposed to do what.”

    He also pointed out that it was quite disappointing that the 2017 budget that was presented by the President last December and with assurances of passege by February,  was not passed until May.

    He said: “As it turned out we were quite disappointed that it spent a bit of time before it was approved.

    “And thereafter we had to go into negotiations with the National Assembly in order to get it right.”

    According to him, there is an agreement that the executive will be engaging with National Assembly members from the moment budget proposal is submitted.

    Osinbajo said that there was no need to wait for disputes to occur before the two arms of government start working on a budget.

    The Acting President spoke of efforts to return to the January – December life cycle for national budgets.

    To this end, Osinbajo said the 2018 budget proposal will be presented to the National Assembly by October so that it can be passed latest by December.

  • Why Budget will be tough to implement, by Osinbajo

    Why Budget will be tough to implement, by Osinbajo

    • Acting President explains delay in Bill’s signing

    Text of Acting President Yemi Osinbajo’s remarks after signing the N7.44 trillion 2017 Appropriation Bill into Law at the Presidential Villa in Abuja yesterday.

    A few minutes ago, I signed the 2017 Appropriations Bill into Law. This is an important milestone in our Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) laid in April by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    I would like to express my appreciation to the Senate President, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, as well as the entire leadership and members of the National Assembly for completing work on the 2017 Appropriation Bill. And I will return to this point presently.

    The process of preparing and processing this bill was much smoother than the 2016 Appropriation Bill. On the executive side, there were no allegations of errors, or mistakes, and there was a significant improvement in the quality of the preparation, as well as the presentation.

    I wish to commend the Ministry of Budget and Planning for such a remarkable improvement over a single budget cycle.

    On the side of the National Assembly, I wish to commend the collaborative spirit of the engagements our Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) had with their various committees, and with the leadership, during the budget defence sessions. There were far fewer reported cases of acrimony, or hostile wrangling this year, than in the past.

    From the reports we received, the sessions were generally conducted in a friendly atmosphere. There is no doubt that our democracy is maturing.

    However, the final presentation and the signing of the budget have been considerably delayed. This was largely due to disagreements we had about the changes introduced to our 2017 Budget proposals by the National Assembly.

    The executive took the view that the changes fundamentally affected some of our priority programmes and would make implementation extremely difficult and in some cases impossible.

    I must say that the entire leadership of the National Assembly, led by the Senate President and the Speaker, adopted a commendably patriotic and statesmanlike approach to our engagements on resolving these critical issues.

    In sum, the engagements yielded acceptable results. The most important being that the leadership of the National Assembly has given us a commitment that the National Assembly will re-instate the budgetary allocations for all the important executive projects, such as the railway standard gauge projects, the Mambilla Power Project, the Second Niger Bridge, the Lagos–Ibadan Expressway, among others, which they had reduced to fund some of the new projects they introduced.

    This re-instatement will be by way of an application for virement by the Executive which they have agreed will be expeditiously considered and approved by the National Assembly.

    It is as a result of that understanding and the outcome of our detailed engagements that we feel able to sign the 2017 Appropriations Bill into law today.

    I am also pleased to mention that, in our discussions with the leadership of the National Assembly, we have jointly resolved to return to a predictable January to December fiscal year.

    It is a particularly important development because this accords with the financial year of most private sector companies, underscoring the crucial relationship between government and the private sector.

    Therefore, on the understanding that we will be submitting the 2018 Budget to the National Assembly by October 2017, the leadership of the National Assembly has committed to working towards the passage of the 2018 Budget into law before the end of 2017. I must, once more, express my appreciation to the leadership of the National Assembly, for the collaborative spirit in which these discussions were conducted.

    The 2017 Budget, which I have signed into law today, is christened: “Budget of Economic Recovery and Growth” and reflects our commitment to ensure strong linkage between the medium-term Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) recently launched by His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari and the annual budgets.

    It is designed to bring the Nigerian economy out of recession unto a path of sustainable and inclusive growth. The budget has a revenue projection of N5.08 trillion and an aggregate expenditure of N7.44 trillion. The projected fiscal deficit of N2.36 trillion is to be financed largely by borrowing.

    Let me assure those who have expressed concern about the growing public debt that we are taking several actions to grow government revenues as well as plug revenue leakages. This is because, notwithstanding the fact that our borrowings are still within sustainability limits, we are determined, in the medium term, to reduce our reliance on borrowings to finance our expenditures.

    Details of the budget, as approved by the National Assembly, will be made available by the Budget and National Planning Minister.

    As you are all aware, our economy is already signaling a gradual recovery as growth is headed towards positive territory. First quarter GDP, at -0.52 per cent compares favourably with -2.06 per cent in the first quarter of 2016.

    Inflation is declining – down to 17.24 per cent from 18.74 per cent as at May 2016. Our external reserves are now $30.28 billion as at June 8, 2017 up from $26.59 billion as at May 31, 2016.

    We are also gradually instilling confidence in our exchange rate regime. This improvement in GDP growth and other macro-economic indicators is largely attributable to our strategic implementation of the 2016 Budget as well as stronger macroeconomic management and policy coordination.

    I am confident that the 2017 Budget will deliver positive economic growth and prosperity – one that is self-sustaining and inclusive. In this regard, the 2017 budget will be implemented in line with our ERGP.

    Over the 2017-2020 plan period, we are focusing on five key execution priorities, namely:

    • Stabilising the macroeconomic environment;
    • Agriculture and Food security;
    • Energy sufficiency in power and petroleum products;
    • Improved transportation infrastructure; and
    • Industrialisation through support for micro, small and medium-scale enterprises (MSMEs).

    The 2017 Budget includes provisions that reflect these priorities.

    To demonstrate our commitment to following through our ERGP, the 2017 Budget allocates over N2 trillion to capital expenditure, principally infrastructure.

    For instance, we are committing over N200 billion to improve transport infrastructure such as roads and rail; over N500 billion for investments in works, power, and housing; and N46 billion for Special Economic Zone Projects to be set up in each geopolitical zone.

    The signing of the budget today will trigger activities in the domestic economy which will lead to job creation and more opportunities for employment, especially for our youth. And, as I indicated earlier, we will be returning to the National Assembly to seek upward adjustments by way of virements in relation to a number of critical projects which have received inadequate provision in the budget just passed by the National Assembly.

    We acknowledge that government alone cannot achieve the overarching goal of delivering inclusive growth; that is why the 2017 Budget provides a lot of opportunities for partnerships with the private sector.

    To help the private sector thrive, we are determined to create an enabling business environment. We are already recording verifiable progress across several areas ranging from a new Visa-on-Arrival scheme to reforms at our ports and regulatory agencies.

    The Online business registration process has reduced time required for business registration from 10 to 2 days. It is expected that the Executive Order on transparency and efficiency in the business environment will make it even easier for investors to get the permits and licenses they require for their businesses.

    Pursuant to our commitments to the Open Government Partnership, we recently issued an Executive Order that will promote budget transparency, accountability and efficiency. We want to make the Federal budget work more efficiently for the people.

    Thus, beyond the huge provisions for investments in critical infrastructure, we have mandated government agencies to spend more of their budgets on locally produced goods. This will open more opportunities for job creation with benefits for government in form of tax revenues.

    We are also working hard to improve our revenue collection efficiency so that we can achieve our revenue projections. While we are deploying technological tools to enhance collections, the implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) will continue to contribute significantly to improving transparency and accountability over government revenues.

    Our fight against corruption is yielding positive results. Some of the recoveries are included in the 2017 Budget which will be expended on identifiable capital projects.

    Already, we are beginning to see some improvement in the quality of public expenditure. This is great motivation for us to remain resolute in our fight against corruption so that economic prosperity is enjoyed by all Nigerians.

    Let me reiterate that the implementation of our 2017 Budget will bring added impetus to our ongoing economic recovery. We will intensify our economic diversification efforts in our bid to expand opportunities for wealth creation and employment, thereby creating inclusive and sustainable growth.

    Our path to progress and abundance is clear. The tools are in place and the resilient, resourceful and hardworking Nigerian people are set to go. I have no doubt that by the grace of God, the bleakness of recession is about to witness the uplifting dawn of abundance.

     

  • BREAKING: Osinbajo signs 2017 budget

    BREAKING: Osinbajo signs 2017 budget

    Acting President Yemi Osinbajo on Monday signed the 2017 Appropriation bill into law.
    Osinbajo accented the Budget around 4:42 p.m.
    The budget was passed by the National Assembly some weeks back while President Muhammadu Buhari left Nigeria for the United Kingdom on 7th May to follow up on his medical consultation with his doctors.
    The budget, which was presented in December 2016 before the two chambers of the national assembly by President Buhari, had an estimate of N7.28 trillion but was raised to N7.44 trillion by the Federal lawmakers.
    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).
    The National Assembly members who witnessed the signing ceremony at the Vice President’s conference room included the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, Senate Leader, Ahmed Lawan, Senator Danjuma Goje, among others.
    Also at the ceremony are the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari, Head of Service, Winifred Oyo-Ita, Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma, Minister of Finance, Kemi Adeosun, Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly matters (Senate), Ita Enang, Senator Phillip Aduda,

  • ‘N284b budget padding’: EFCC uncovers Rep’s Bureau De change

    ‘N284b budget padding’: EFCC uncovers Rep’s Bureau De change

    As part of the ongoing probe of about N284billion injected into the 2016 budget, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has traced a Bureau De Change (BDC) to a principal officer of the House of Representatives.

    The BDC has been placed under surveillance following the suspicion that it was being used for slush funds.

    The EFCC has shortlisted four principal officers, the former Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriations, Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin, and 45 others for investigation.

    Thirteen members, including four principal officers, have been listed as the first set of people to be quizzed.

    The anti-graft agency has written the Code of Conduct Bureau on some issues in the Asset Declaration Forms of some of the 13 lawmakers in the first batch.

    It was learnt that the EFCC had concluded preliminary investigation on the 2016 budget padding which has set the stage for interaction with those implicated.

    The probe followed a petition against the House by Jibrin who detectives have discovered also has a case to answer.

    Jibrin’s petition to EFCC, dated July 29, 2016 was sent through Hammart and Company, Doka Chambers, and Law Bond Solicitors.

    The signatories  are Mohammed Abdulhamid( Hammart and Company); A.B. Bako

    ( Doka Chambers)  and C. Nwachukwu (Law Bond Solicitors).

    A source, who spoke in confidence with our correspondent, said: “In the course of preliminary investigation of the padding of 2016 budget and constituency projects, we  traced a Bureau De Change to a principal officer of the House. The company is named Libra Bureau De Change.

    “We are suspecting that the BDC might have been used for slush funds. Our detectives have placed this BDC on surveillance.

    “We will not release the name of the Representative linked with the BDC until a prima facie case has been established.”

    Giving an update on the probe, the source said: “So far, 50 members of the House have been shortlisted for interrogation in connection with 2016 Budget padding.

    “But we will only accommodate 13 representatives in the first batch to avoid any act capable of affecting the activities of the House because we are only looking into allegations.

    “The EFCC has also written the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) on the Asset Declaration Forms of some of the affected 13 members. We have specifically requested from CCB on whether these lawmakers declared some accounts in their names.

    “We are only investigating the allegations in Jibrin’s petition; it is too early to pronounce any of the lawmakers guilty.

    “ To ensure fairness, the EFCC is also probing some issues against Jibrin. While the petitioner might not like it, we cannot gloss over counter allegations against Jibrin.”