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Tag: budget

  • Budget: Projects cut and inserted by National Assembly

    President Muhammadu Buhari has listed projects which cost were reduced and new ones inserted in the federal budget by the National Assembly.

    The details are as follows:

    “a. The provisions for some nationally/regionally strategic infrastructure projects such as Counter-part funding for the Mambilla Power Plant, Second Niger Bridge/ancillary roads, the East-West Road, Bonny-Bodo Road, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and Itakpe-Ajaokuta Rail Project were cut by an aggregate of 11.5 billion Naira.

    “b. Similarly, provisions for some ongoing critical infrastructure projects in the FCT, Abuja especially major arterial roads and the mass transit rail project, were cut by a total of 7.5 billion Naira.

    “c. The provision for Rehabilitation and Additional Security Measures for the United Nations Building by the FCT, Abuja was cut by 3.9 billion Naira from 4 billion Naira to 100 million Naira; this will make it impossible for the Federal Government of Nigeria to fulfill its commitment to the United Nations on this project.

    “d. The provisions for various Strategic Interventions in the health sector such as the upgrade of some tertiary health institutions, transport and storage of vaccines through the cold chain supply system, provision of anti-retroviral drugs for persons on treatment, establishment of chemotherapy centres and procurement of dialysis consumables were cut by an aggregate amount of 7.45 billion Naira.

    “e. The provision for security infrastructure in the 104 Unity Schools across the country were cut by 3 billion Naira at a time when securing our students against acts of terrorism ought to be a major concern of government.

    “f. The provision for the Federal Government’s National Housing Programme was cut by 8.7 billion Naira.

    “g. At a time when we are working with Labour to address compensation-related issues, a total of 5 billion Naira was cut from the provisions for Pension Redemption Fund and Public Service Wage Adjustment.

    “h. The provisions for Export Expansion Grant (EEG) and Special Economic Zones/Industrial Parks, which are key industrialization initiatives of this Administration, were cut by a total of 14.5 billion Naira.

    Read Also: Budget: My concern with changes by National Assembly– Buhari

    “i. The provision for Construction of the Terminal Building at Enugu Airport was cut from 2 billion Naira to 500 million Naira which will further delay the completion of this critical project.

    “j. The Take-off Grant for the Maritime University in Delta State, a key strategic initiative of the Federal Government, was cut from 5 billion Naira to 3.4 billion Naira.

    “k. About seventy (70) new road projects have been inserted into the budget of the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing. In doing so, the National Assembly applied some of the additional funds expected from the upward review of the oil price benchmark to the Ministry’s vote. Regrettably, however, in order to make provision for some of the new roads, the amounts allocated to some strategic major roads have been cut by the National Assembly.” he said

    He pointed out that another area of concern is the increase by the National Assembly of the provisions for Statutory Transfers by an aggregate of 73.96 billion Naira.

    “Most of these increases are for recurrent expenditure at a time we are trying to keep down the cost of governance.

    “An example of this increase is the budget of the National Assembly itself which has increased by 14.5 billion Naira, from 125 billion Naira to 139.5 billion Naira without any discussion with the Executive.

    “Notwithstanding the above stated observations, I have decided to sign the 2018 Budget in order not to further slowdown the pace of recovery of our economy, which has doubtlessly been affected by the delay in passing the budget.”

  • Jibrin challenges Okonjo-Iweala over N17b 2015 budget bribery allegation

    Former Chairman, House of Representatives Committees on Finance and Appropriation, Abdullmumini Jibrin has  denied being part of the National Assembly delegation that collected N17b from former President Goodluck Jonathan before the 2015 budget was passed.

    Jibrin, who was suspended and later pardoned by the House over allegation of bringing it into disrepute as a result of his expose of Budget padding challenged the former Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to prove her allegation as contained in her book.

    He called for investigation of the allegation by anti corruption agencies.

    READ ALSO: We gave lawmakers N17bn to pass 2015 budget —Okonjo-Iweala

    According to Jibrin in a series of tweets on his  twitter account, that rather than be given the opportunity to offer technical explanation on budget issues, former President Jonathan would back his aides’ position against lawmakers.

    The tweet reads: “My attention has been drawn to media reports from extract of a book- Fighting corruption is dangerous- written by former Finance Minister Dr Ngozi Okonjo Iweala where in she stated that in a tough session with National Assembly’s ad-hoc committee on budget ( made up of chairs of Finance and Appropriation Committee of both chambers and other leaders of National Assembly), 17 billion naira was forced into the budget for election expenses for members of NASS.

    “As Chairman House Committee on Finance during the period in question, I wish to state as follows:

    “I was NEVER part of a meeting where such decision was made. Iam not aware of any 17billion naira introduced in the 2015 budget for election expenses for members of NASS. I did not benefit in any way or form from such a money if at all it ever existed.

    “It is absolutely unfair for the former Minister of finance to make such grievous allegation in a blanket manner. She should have named those that participated at the said meeting and received the money.

    “That will be a higher service to the country and will aide investigation and help establish culpability

    “Budget is not rocket science, the former Finance Minister with her huge institutional memory, documents at her disposal and massive contacts can identify and state specifically where the money was inserted in the budget and how it was implemented in favour of the alleged beneficiaries

    “In all my interactions (including budget matters), oversight and sometimes confrontation with the former Minister of finance, it always centered on issues particularly on the MTEF and economy and most of our activities, engagements and discuss are in the public glare.

    “The toughest of such issue based interaction for me was 2013 MTEF. In one of such meetings at the villa, there was an out burst between myself and the former finance Minister on issues concerning the MTEF.

    “President Jonathan interrupted my presentation, backed his minister and took time to dress me down to the suprise of the NASS delegation. I apologized to him and proceeded with my presentation as if nothing happened. I got a welldone tap on my shoulder from President Jonathan after the meeting.

    “I am by this statement putting up myself before all the anti graft agencies to investigate me and established if I am part of that decision or benefited from its outcome or proceed.

    “We should not take allegations of corruption lightly as such, when allegations of corruption are raised, it must be dealt with decisively”.

  • We borrow to fund budget, infrastructure, says DMO

    Nigeria took loans to  fund the budget and put more funds into the capital projects, Director-General of Debt Management Office (DMO) Patience Oniha has said.

    Nigeria’s total public debt stock is N21.73 trillion – as at the end of last year.

    She spoke yesterday at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Regional Economic Outlook for Africa with theme: “Domestic Revenue Mobilisation and Private Investment”.

    Oniha said with the level of reserves, oil production and population, Nigeria can’t be saying the country is an oil producing nation just like Saudi Arabia which is an oil producing nation.

    She said Nigeria is miles apart with Saudi Arabia in terms of oil being a source of its revenue. “We have since realised we should not be benchmarking ourselves against these countries. We borrow because there is revenue shortfall. The National Assembly passed the budget last week and we know it was higher than what the executive presented. So, as a debt manager, what I am looking for is to see where the funding of that incremental size may come in from,” she said.

    Oniha said the government will be borrowing to make up for that shortfall in budget. “All of government’s borrowings were targeted at infrastructure development. Without borrowing, we won’t be able to deliver on the budget and I think we should be clear about that and a lot of that went into capital,” she said.

    She said Nigeria should not be focused on the debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio adding that the debt strategy is targeted at not to crowd out the private sector.

    Oniha said the decline in interest rate means that there are about N200 billion out there in the market for private sector to invest in. “You will also notice that we are retiring some of the treasury Bills as they mature. The main challenge I am giving to the private sector is that why is all these money still sitting where it shouldn’t be? Why has it not reached the private sector because that was the key objective of our strategy”.

    The IMF’s Head in Nigeria Amine Mati said Nigeria and other countries in the Sub-Saharam Africa need three to five per cent Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth to thive.

    “We think that for the region, there needs to be three to five per cent GDP growth is needed. How do you get there? In Nigeria, you can remove a lot of exemptions and expand income taxes. If you look at all the various forms of taxation, you can take another look of property tax, then you can have tax administration and improving compliance. You know, in Nigeria, complying with many of the taxes is still very low,” he said.

    He urged Nigeria to double tax compliance to GDP ratio from 25 per cent to 50 per cent. Such measure, he said, can make the difference in increasing revenue mobilisation.

    He said raising growth is really key for the challenges ahead in Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa. “For the region as a whole, we can say the average growth rate on a per capita base is low. And a third of African countries, in 2017, with Nigeria as one of them, has seen a decline per capita GDP level. And we expect some of that to continue. To really make a difference, that trend needs to be reversed. So, the growth rate really needs to surpass its population growth to make a difference”.

    He said the interesting characteristics are that non-resource countries have higher private investments. “Oil prices have gone up and this is an opportunity for these countries to really use the opportunity provided by the pick-up in oil price to initiate some reforms that would encourage more private sector investments,” he said.

  • NACCIMA decries late passage of budget

    The Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) has decried the late passage of 2018 Appropriation Bill by the National Assembly almost six months after.

    In a statement by its President, Iyalode Alaba Lawson, the body said the late passage and President’s assent of the budget hinders efforts to resuscitate the economy and ensure well-being of Nigerians.

    While commending the National Assembly for doing a thorough job on the bill, Lawson said it is important the lawmakers and Executive work closely to ensure quick passage of the budget proposal.

    The statement reads: “NACCIMA advises the executive to expedite action in reviewing the document passed by the National Assembly and its signing into law as well as judicious implementation of the budget for maximum impact of Nigerians.”

     

  • Dickson signs N316. 9b budget

    Bayelsa State Governor Seriake Dickson yesterday signed into law the 2018 Appropriation Bill of N316.9 billion.

    The budget contained capital expenditure of N156 billion and recurrent of N160 billion.

    Assenting to the bill, Dickson assured that the budget will enable his administration consolidate on investments.

    He explained that the initial Appropriation Bill was N295 billion but that the House of Assembly increased it by N21 billion.

    He said the government would ensure the completion of projects and boost investments in critical infrastructure, such as the Eco-Industrial Park and Agge Deep Sea Port.

    He thanked the lawmakers for their commitment and expeditious passage of the bill, which was brought to them in  December.

    Dickson urged the members to collaborate with the executive in sourcing resources to fund the budget.

    The governor said: “The Appropriation Bill that I forwarded was about N295bn, but the House of Assembly increased it to N316bn. That is part of the checks and balances that they have exercised. And I know and trust, that in their own case, they will also work with me to ensure that we have the resources to be able to fund this budget.”

    Presenting the bills, Speaker Konbowei Benson said the Assembly scrutinised the proposal and passed it in the best interest of the state.

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  • National Assembly’s 2018 budget ‘ll be open, says Senate Leader

    Senate Leader Ahmad Lawan yesterday said the 2018 Budget of the National Assembly would be made public.

    The federal lawmakers’ budget has been shrouded in secrecy over the years.

    But Senator Shehu Sani recently revealed that each senator takes home N13.5 million monthly as running cost, which they retire, in addition to N750, 000 monthly pay and allowance for constituency projects.

    Lawan, briefing reporters on the objectives of the “Open NASS’’ initiative designed to increase public access to the operations of the National Assembly, said:  “Increasingly, governments around the world are promoting initiatives in transparency?

    “Governments that are open and transparent are more accountable to their citizens and are less likely to be corrupt.

    “Openness generates trust in government and also paves the way for meaningful participation by citizens and more informed and better policies.

    “Around the world, an increasing number of parliaments are being more proactive in the provision of information.

    “This has become easier with the proliferation of the internet and access to Information and Communication Technology (ICT).”

    Lawan heads the Special Committee set up to organise “Open Week Event’’ which is scheduled for June 25 to June 29 at the National Assembly Complex.

    He described the initiative as an evolving one, adopted by parliaments all over the world.

    Lawan emphasised that the event would broaden public understanding of legislative functions and processes and engender interactions between legislators and key stakeholders.

    “Series of activities during the `Open Week’ will include interactive sessions with various interest groups and question and answer sessions.

    “It also includes exhibitions and tours, planned over a four-day period to raise awareness on legislative initiative and activities,’’ Lawan said.

    He said that the interactive sessions would feature members of the executive arm of government on the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) and the judiciary on pre- and post-elections adjudication.

    “Others are constitutional separation of powers, a session with state assemblies and a session with trade unions on economic growth and industrial relations.

    “Also, there will be sessions with traditional rulers and pressure groups, civil society organisations on accountability and service delivery in governance as well as sessions with women, youth, and student bodies.

    “The exercise will feature daily exhibitions for National Assembly committees to display their outputs and interface with stakeholders via cluster units to be created from both chambers for ease of access.

    “The benefits of the Open Week are numerous and have direct bearing on democratic governance in Nigeria.”

  • Niger governor signs budget

    Niger State Governor Abubakar Sani-Bello has signed the 2018 appropriation billon of N134.28 into law.

    The budget is N6.27 billion larger than the initial N128 billion sent to the House of Assembly.

    “We have deliberately tagged it “The People’s Budget” because our administration aims at deploying resources to those projects that have greater impact on our people, using our shared vision with unlimited opportunities,” the governor said.

    Bello, however, feared that the passage of the 2018 budget may affect the road construction components of the fiscal law.

    “We have lost almost three months in the year, we have already had the first rains in Minna and the lateness in the budget’s passage will have affect our road projects because of the rains,” he noted.

  • Buhari seeks peace over order of elections, budget

    Saraki, Dogara, others at Aso Villa

    A major trouble-shooting effort was launched last night to halt the imminent showdown between the Executive and the Legislature.

    On the agenda were:

    • the controversial election sequence reordering, which is a subject of litigation;
    • the 2018 budget, which is stuck at the National Assembly— four months after it was presented by President Muhammadu Buhari; and
    • the worrisome security situation.

    Last night President Buhari met at the Presidential Villa with the leadership of the National Assembly.

    The meeting, which started around 9p.m, was attended by Senate President Bukola Saraki, House of Representatives Speaker Yakubu Dogara, Deputy Speaker Lasun Yussuff, Senate Leader Ahmed Lawan and House Leader Femi Gbajabiamila, among others.

    After the meeting, Saraki told reporters that the frosty relationship between the Executive and the Legislature was discussed. The budget was also discussed, he said.

    Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Boss Mustapha confirmed that the threat by the lawmakers to override the President’s veto on the Electoral Act amendment was discussed. He gave no details.

    On the budget, the lawmakers were said to have complained that some ministers were yet to defend their inputs.

    Buhari was said to have directed the SGF to write the ministers, directing them to defend their budgets.

    Earlier in the day, the Senate during plenary decided to write to the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN) to protest the ruling stopping the lawmakers from overriding the President’s veto on the Electoral Act Amendment Bill.

    It was also learnt that based on legal advice, which suggested that the President’s reasons for declining assent was not watertight, the lawmakers had decided to override the veto next week.

    The controversy trailing the rejection of the Electoral Act 2018 amendment by President Muhammadu Buhari may be far from over.

    The National Assembly yesterday listed “flaws” in the constitutional provision relied upon by President Buhari to withhold assent to the Bill.

    The leadership of the two chambers of the National Assembly is said to have met Wednesday night to consider submissions from the legal department of the Assembly.

    It was gathered that the legal advice dismissed the constitutional provisions cited by President Buhari as basis for his action “as baseless and of no effect to form the basis of withholding assent to the Bill”.

    The Senate and House Representatives leadership “accepted the submissions received from the legal department,” a source said.

    The implication of the acceptance of the submissions of the legal department, the source said, “is that the two chambers may go ahead to override the veto of Mr. President to the Bill.”

    The source hinted that “the two chambers appeared to be poised to do battle with Mr. President by exercising their power to override the president on any issue they feel strongly about”.

    He added that the amendment of the Electoral Act which altered the sequence of elections, seems to be one of the issues the lawmakers are convinced was done “in the best interest of the country”.

    The legal advice obtained by our reporter states: “The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria vetoed the 2018 Amendment of the Electoral Act of 2010 passed by the National Assembly in the exercise of its constitutional powers under Section 58(4 oi) Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended following reasons.

    “Each of the legal and constitutional reasons advanced by the President as a basis for the veto were examined in details below.

    “1. The President claims that the Amendment introducing a specific sequence for elections under Section 25 of the Principal Act 2010 infringed the discretion of the Independent National Electoral Commission to “organise, undertake and supervise elections.” This argument is flawed because correct legal position however is that by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 First Alteration Act 2010, Act No. 1, specifically, Section 5 provides that “Section 76 of the Principal Act is altered thus

    “(a)subsection (1) in line 2, by inserting immediately after the word ’commission’ ’the words’ ’in accordance with the Electoral Act. “

    “From the above amendment, it is crystal clear that the power to regulate the principal elements of all Federal Electoral process was expressed by the above amendment, removed from the Independent National Electoral Commission and vested in the Assembly (N.A) which has the power to make laws for peace, order and good government” of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and any part thereof.

    “Furthermore, the phrases ‘organize, undertake & supervise’ elections under Section 15(a) of the 3″ Schedule to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,  according to the President, allegedly infringed the discretion guaranteed” to lNEC by Section 25 of the of the Principal Act.

    “1. The argument of the President that the sequencing of the elections under Section 25 infringed the discretion of INEC without expressly pointing out what specific aspects or ways and manner cannot be a basis for legal or constitutional argument or decision. With due respect, the opinion expressed is too general to establish a basis for the exercise of a legal or constitutional power, more so because “discretion” is a principle governed by the rules of Administrative Law and not that of Constitutional Law, on which the President claimed to have anchored his arguments.

    “2) .Thirdly, the terms “organise, undertake and supervise” may have conferred a wide discretion on lNEC in matters of all logistics in the preparation and conduct of elections, the issue of discretion only comes to fore in the actual details of the preparation, organizing and conducting elections.

    ”It is respectfully submitted that the sequencing of the elections in a Bill as to which was scheduled as first or last in the conduct does not in any way hamper or affect the discretion and capacity of INEC to organise, undertake and conduct these elections into various constitutional offices provided.

    “3) The new subsection (3) introduced into Section 138 of the Electoral Act, which the President argued repealed two crucial grounds upon which elections could be challenged, is not entirely correct and the view could be misplaced for the following reason:

    “a. The new Subsection (3) to section 138 actually clarifies the ambiguity contained in subsection 1 of the Principal Act and reinforces the constitutional standards specified in Sections 65, 106, 131 and 177 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999. In addition, it further provides that no person shall be qualified to contest elections in breach of any of the ‘Sections 66, 107, 137 or 182 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.

    “The amendment to Section 152 (3)-(5), which collectively imposed an obligation on the State independent Electoral Commissions to apply the standard of ‘free, fair and credible elections in the conduct of Local Government elections’ is within the competence of the National Assembly to make laws in respect of the procedure regulating elections into the Local Government Councils in accordance with item 11 (Eleven) of the Concurrent Legislative List of the 1999 Constitution as amended. What specific aspects or ways and manner cannot be a basis for legal or constitutional argument or decision. With due respect, the opinion expressed is too general to establish a basis for the exercise of a legal or constitutional power more so because “discretion” is a principle governed by the rules of Administrative Law and not that of Constitutional Law which the President claimed to have anchored his arguments.

    “Thirdly, the terms “Organize, undertake and supervise” may have confer a wide discretion on lNEC in matters of all logistics in the preparation and conduct of elections, the issue of discretion only comes to fore in the actual details of the preparation, organizing and conducting elections. It is respectfully submitted that the sequencing of the elections in a Bill as to which was scheduled as first or last in the conduct does not in any way hamper or affect the discretion and capacity of INEC to organize, undertake and conduct these elections into various constitutional offices provided.

    “3) The new subsection (3) introduced into Section 138 of the Electoral Act, which the President argued repealed two crucial grounds upon which elections could be challenged is not entirely correct and the view could be misplaced for the following reason:

    “a. The new Subsection (3) to section 138 actually clarifies the ambiguity contained in subsection 1 of the Principal Act and reinforces the constitutional standards specified in Sections 65, 106, 131 and 177 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999. In addition, it furthe provides that no person shall be qualified to contest elections in breach c any of the ‘Sections 66, 107, 137 or 182 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.”

    “The amendment to Section 152 (3)-(5) which collectively imposed an obligation on the State Independent Electoral Commissions to apply the standard of “free, fair and credible elections in the conduct of Local Government elections” is within the competence of the National Assembly to make laws in respect of the procedure regulating elections into the  Local Government Councils in accordance with item 11 (Eleven) of the Concurrent Legislative List of the 1999 Constitution as amended.

    “It is therefore not entirely correct, with all due respect, for the Mr. President to argue that the amendment may raise constitutional issues over the competence of the National Assembly to legislate on Local Government elections. The Supreme Court of Nigeria has decided on this issue in the famous case of Attorney General of Abia State & Ors v Attorney General of the Federation & Ors.

  • Niger Assembly passes N134.28 bn 2018 budget

    The Niger  House of Assembly on Thursday passed the 2018 appropriation bill of N134.286 billion.

    The figure showed an increase of  N6billion  from the N128.10billion presented by the  governor on Dec. 14, 2017.

    The passage followed the presentation of the report of the Committee on Appropriation and Planning.

    Tagged “The Peoples Budget,” it  set aside N53.244billion for recurrent expenditure as against N52.15billion and N81.42billion for capital expenditure as against N75.858billion budgeted by the executive.

    Presenting the report on the budget, Mr Muhammad Lokogoma, Chairman of  the Planning and Appropriation Committee, said that the House interfaced with various Ministries, Departments and Agencies in the course of scrutinising the budget.

    Lokogoma said the adjustments were made in areas critical to the policy direction of the present administration in the state  with the aim  of sourcing for more revenue to finance them.

    “In as much as it was the desire of the committee to accommodate increases recommended by various committees, we were constrained by inadequate resources,’’ he said.

    He said the  committee observed lack of synergy between the Ministry of Finance and the Planning Commission in the area of information sharing, adding that it was seriously affecting the budgetary  process in the state.

    “The lack of synergy between the planning commission and Ministry of Finance is seriously hampering the budgetary  process in the state.

    “The committee is particularly concerned with the barrier created between the two organisations in the area of information sharing.

    “There is therefore need for the two to work together to ensure effective budgetary  process and financial management,” he added

    The committee also decried the late submission of the budget which resulted in hasty scrutiny, urging the executive to always submit the budget in the first week of October for thorough scrutiny and timely passage.

    In his remarks, the Speaker of the House, Alhaji Ahmed Marafa, thanked the committee members for working tirelessly to  ensure  the passage of the law.

    Marafa said  that the budget when fully implemented would  accelerate speedy urban and rural development.

    He directed the clerk to forward clean copies of the budget to the governor for his assent.

    NAN

  • FG to auction N70bn bonds on March 21 – DMO

    The Federal Government has offered for subscription by auction N70 billion worth of bonds in its March 21 auction, says the Debt Management Office (DMO).

    The offer circular obtained from its website on Tuesday in Abuja, said that it would sell N10 billion of a five year re-opening bond maturing in July 2021 at 14.50 per cent.

    It would also sell N30 billion seven year new issue to mature in March 202, at an undisclosed interest rate and another N30 billion 10 year re-opening at 13.98 per cent to mature in Feb. 2028.

    Nigeria issues sovereign bonds monthly to support the local bond market, create a benchmark for corporate issuance and fund its budget deficit.

    NAN