Senate may pass MTEF today •Bill mandates IOCs to
remit 3% of budget for N’Delta development
-Damilola Oyedele in Abuja
The Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, has
expressed worry over the rising recurrent expenditure as being observed in the
2018 N8.612trillion Appropriation Bill.
Saraki said the increase is probably caused by
corruption through the recurrent expenditure, after the government blocked
leakages in capital expenditure.
The sum of N2.65 trillion was appropriated as
recurrent expenditure in the 2016 N6.06 trillion budget. In the 2017 N7.3
trillion budget, N2.9 trillion was appropriated for recurrent, but as at November
2017, the Minister of Budget and National Planning,
Senator Udo Udoma, said recurrent expenditure had hit N4.2 trillion. The 2018 N8.621 trillion budget estimates proposes N3.5 trillion for recurrent expenditure.
Senator Udo Udoma, said recurrent expenditure had hit N4.2 trillion. The 2018 N8.621 trillion budget estimates proposes N3.5 trillion for recurrent expenditure.
Saraki in his remarks at the continuation of debate
into the details of the budget proposal, yesterday said the increase is a
matter for concern.
“It appears that our recurrent expenditure,
personnel, have started creeping up again. It was well managed but I have
noticed an increase and all the different committees need to look into that. My
concern is that government has been able to effectively block leakages in
capital expenditure, then maybe people have now moved to recurrent and
personnel expenditure for all sorts of unscrupulous activities,” he said.
Saraki also questioned how realistic the oil output
projection is, at 2.3m barrels per day, where the country had 1.9mbpd in 2017.
He explained that in the last two months, the
Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) had not been able to put any
money in the Excess Crude Account, even though oil prices have been as high as
$60 per barrel.
“The only reason must be that oil production is much
less than what we are budgeting for. I think this is an area we need to look at
seriously, it must be that the level of theft and vandalism that are still
going on is very high and it is not being properly reported, I think we are the
National Assembly have a role to play,” Saraki said.
Speaking further, he queried the projections for independent revenue and expressed hope that the lawmakers would address it, else it would cause a huge deficit for the budget implementation.
He added that smuggling remains a threat to a proper
implementation of the budget, and must be tackled.
“A lot of complains were raised on budget implementation. Our position is that before the year ends, we will have 50 per cent of 2017 budget implemented. We need to hold government to this commitment,” he said.
“A lot of complains were raised on budget implementation. Our position is that before the year ends, we will have 50 per cent of 2017 budget implemented. We need to hold government to this commitment,” he said.
During the debate earlier, Senator Lanre Tejuosho
lamented that the health sector is the biggest casualty of the 2018 budget and
warned that Nigeria would continue to bear the brunt of health tourism if
adequate funding is not provided to revamp the sector.
Tejuosho also canvassed health insurance for
Nigerians at the cost of N200 per month, which he noted would amount to N34
billion on a monthly basis.
Senator Olusola Adeyeye, who is the Chief Whip of
the Senate, said there is a lack of enthusiasm in the budget debate.
He called for a reduction in the allowances of all politicians across board to reduce the cost of governance.
‘I don’t want a budget deficit, no gain without pain, we must face the truth collectively,” Adeyeye said.
Other senators contributed to the debate which continues today, with more voices canvassing an increase in oil benchmark from $45 to $50.
Meanwhile, there are indications that the 2018-2020
Medium Term Expenditure Framework would be passed after its consideration on
today.
Although the document was not listed for
consideration on the Senate order paper, Senate Leader, Ahmed Lawan, called it
up as the last item for the day.
Senator Dino Melaye however argued against the
consideration of such a ‘critical document’ when most of the lawmakers had left
the chamber.
“There are only four PDP senators here, and we do
not have a quorum,” he said.
Lawan’s plea for consideration as “we are racing against time” was not heeded to by the Senate Minority Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio, who jokingly said MTEF was ‘smuggled, in.
Lawan’s plea for consideration as “we are racing against time” was not heeded to by the Senate Minority Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio, who jokingly said MTEF was ‘smuggled, in.
The lawmakers agreed to step down the consideration for today.
Also, the Senate yesterday passed an amendment to
the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Establishment Act of 2000, which
mandates International Oil Companies and Gas firms to Remit three percent of
their total budget, for the development of the Niger Delta region.
The amendment, sponsored by Senator Peter Nwaoboshi,
(Delta PDP), is intended to augment and strengthen the Principal Act so as to
clarify certain provisions of the Act.
It also obliterates some loopholes and provides a
push to the commission towards excellent service delivery, for positive impact
on the region and the nation.
In another development, the Senate also mandated the
Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream) to investigate the implementation
of Production Sharing Contracts (PSC) agreements of 1993, between the
International Oil Companies and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation
(NNPC).
The committee would also determine the extent of
revenue losses and proffer lasting solution to the problems of implementing the
agreement.
The Senate also urged agencies charged with
statutory responsibility of reviewing the contract to do so to reflect the
current economic condition in line with the 1999 Constitution.
The resolution followed a motion sponsored by
Senator Donald Alasoadura and three others who said Nigeria has lost close to
$60 billion to the non enforcement of the terms of the contract.
Alasoadura said the agreement provides that
royalties paid by IOCs on oil blocks located in deep water should be reviewed
upward when crude oil price exceeds $20 per barrel.
“The PSC also provided for the investment tax credit
of 50% against the rate of between 5% and 20 per cent provided in the PPTA,”
“Worried that oil price crossed the $20 mark (in
real time) in May 2004 and yet royalties were not reviewed upwards as provided
by the terms of the PSC, (15 years from 1993), as provided by the terms,
leading to monumental loss of revenue to the federation, “ Alasoadura said.
Saraki, presiding, lamented that the country is
suffering huge losses because some persons saddled with responsibility of
protecting Nigeria’s interests, fail to do their jobs.
“The question as to why the simple issue where there
is clear agreement when crude oil goes above $20 per barrel, but some people
because of their own personal interest, decide to keep quiet at the expense of
this country. This matter needs to be investigated. There is revenue within the
country we can find instead of continuously trying to borrow money,” Saraki
said.
Also read: My second term agenda will be tough ―Obiano
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