*Senate okays 2008 amended budget

PRESIDENT Umaru Yar’Adua is seeking the approval of the National Assembly for him to spend N683 billion over the next two months as supplementary budget.

The budget covers Federal Government’s contribution to the building of independent power projects,

Umaru Yar’Adua

In a letter dated October 20, 2008 addressed to the President of the Senate, President Yar’Adua expressed hope that the bill would “receive the usual expeditious consideration of the distinguished members of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

Government said N220.2 billion is to be vired from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation “for additional Recurrent (non-debt) Expenditure, while the balance of N463,060,641,471 is for contribution to the Development Fund for additional Capital Expenditure and the portion of the Federal Government’s contribution for the funding of the Emergency Power Projects agreed by the National Economic Council at the meeting of 19th June, 2008 amounting to US$2,463,448,500 equivalent to N288,223,474,500 for the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2008.”

Section 1 (1) of the “Bill for an Act (law) to Authorise the Issuance of N683,301,968,287 from the Consolidated Revenue Fund for 2008,” as proposed by the Executive, states: “The Accountant-General of the Federation shall, when authorised to do so by warrants signed by the Minister charged with responsibility of finance, pay out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation during the year ending on the 31st day of December 2008, the sums specified by the warrants, not exceeding in the aggregate 683.3.”

Details of the capital proposals indicate that the Federal Ministry of Energy is to receive the lion share of the votes with N34.1 billion slated for the sector. Of the amount, N288.2 billion is proposed as Federal Government’s contribution to the Power Emergency Projects, while N500 million is  Federal Government’s contribution for the renovation of the Yenagoa airport.

The Federal Government’s contribution to the Mambilla Hydroelectric Project is put at N87.6 billion while federal contractors are to receive N50 billion under the proposals.

President Yar'Adua is also proposing N26 billion to accommodate the 2007 increase in the salaries of political office holders and another N68 billion to accommodate adjustments in the salaries of civil servants in the Health, Education and some other sectors.

Briefing Senate correspondents at the end of the Senate session, Senate spokesman, Chief Ayogu Eze, expressed hope that President Yar‘Adua would quickly give his assent to the 2008 amended budget. He also promised that the Senate would expedite action on the supplementary budget.

His words: “I am sure that with the final passage of the Senate today (yesterday), the harmonised version of N2.647 trillion budget will now be transmitted to the President of the Federal Republic for his assent and I believe that, that will now give backing to all the proposed amendments.

“And you are aware that we also have request for supplementary appropriation and we are waiting for 2009 appropriation. So, there is going to be a lot of fireworks but we assure Nigerians that we are alert to our responsibilities and that we have capacity to respond to this assignments as they come; and we are not at all intimidated by the volume of assignments. As they come, we’ll rise up to them.

“We want to give a commitment: that we are not going to delay the supplementary budget more than necessary,”Senator Eze said.

Reps directs Finance Ministry on 2008 medium-term expenditure framework

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives, yesterday, passed a resolution asking the Ministry of Finance to “immediately submit the medium-term expenditure framework of the 2008 budget” and mandated the “Committee on Legislative Compliance to ensure compliance with the relevant sections pertaining to the matter.”

Chairman, House Committee on Finance, Rep. John Owan Enoh ( PDP Obubra-Cross River State), who held a close door meeting with the Minister of Finance, Dr. Shamsudeen Usman, had raised a Motion of Urgent Public Importance on the delay in the implementation of the 2008 budget and its implications.

He said in the twilight of the financial year, the Presidency or the Ministry of Finance was yet to lay before the National Assembly the medium-term expenditure framework for the 2008 budget.

Enoh who cited section 11(1) of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, was, however, opposed on several points by the Minority Whip of the House, Femi Gbajabiamila and Rep. Cyril Maduabum who stressed section 81 of the 1999 Constitution was not specific on when the Presidency would present a budget or even a medium-term expenditure profile before the National Assembly.

Only on Wednesday, the House of Representatives adopted the report of the National Assembly Joint Finance Committee on the Amended 2008 budget, increasing President Yar’Adua’s original N2.5 trillion proposal by N80 billion.

The president had declined appending his signature, twice, to the budget as passed by the National Assembly on account of  additions to his proposal by the legislators.

They first raised government spending to N2.95 trillion and  later N2.74 trillion. They also increased the benchmark for crude oil to N59 per barrel as against the N54 proposed by the executive.

Following pressure from many quarters, the president assented to the budget but on the condition that he would be sending an amended appropriation bill.

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