By Inalegwu Shaibu
ABUJA— THE Senate, yesterday, threatened not to approve the 2011Appropriation Bill unless Government agencies and parastatals that generate revenue submit their budget proposals to the National Assembly
Senate President, David Mark, who was reiterating an earlier statement by Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, warned that the budget would not be passed by the Senate unless agencies like Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN; Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC; Nigerian Ports  Authority, NPA; the Nigeria Custom Service and Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS; amongst others submit their budget proposals to the National Assembly.

He said: “You will recall that during the budget presentation, the Speaker referred to the issues of parastatals that do not submit their budget to us in the two chambers, both the House of Reps and the Senate. We will not approve this budget unless all those parastatals bring their submissions. There is no way in which they can be generating revenue and spending it the way they want as if they are running a government of their own.

We cannot have a government within a government. All government expenditures must be approved by the two Chambers and all the parastatals particularly those who supervise those parastatals must make sure that budget are brought here on time.”

Senator Mark who also expressed sadness over the poor implementation of the 2010 budget said the National Assembly was partly responsible for its failure.

He noted:  “The first problem, of course, with the budget year in year out is the implementation. If we can implement 75 percent of our annual budgets, certainly we will not be complaining the way we are complaining now. So whatever it is, it does not matter how beautiful the budget is on paper, if we cannot translate it to the reality on ground, it is just as good as no budget at all.

Oversight functions
“And that is where I think we come in. Our various oversight functions must ensure that budgets are properly implemented. We also have to share in this blame when budgets are not implemented, we do not bring them to the floor here.

We become a part and parcel of the problem with the executive. But I think we must ensure that the 2011 budget is fully implemented, if it is one kobo that is there, if the one kobo is spent in the way it is spelt out in the budget not on paper.”

On the potentials of the 2011 budget, Mark observed that its success was dependent upon government ability to tackle the problems of security and power. He said: “If we can get power right and if we can get security right, the wealth will follow naturally. As long as we cannot get power right, we can preach any amount of gospel from now till tomorrow, there can be no national development because that is really the key to national development all over the world now.  I am glad we are able to approve some money on the loan to power.

“I think the sooner we get ourselves out of deplorable situation the better so that we can at least improve on power and once there is security, people will be prepared to come and invest. If there is no security I am not sure that anybody would like to bring money and invest here. They will take the money out and invest them where they can be guaranteed some level of security.”

The Senate president who also lamented the failure of government to address problems of bad roads, harped on the need for prioritisation of roads construction and repairs.

While noting that allocating meagre funds to too many roads in one budget year has failed to address the problems, Mark observed:  “On works, I think the money is being thinly spread on ground. We spend too much money all over the place and the impact is never felt so if we reduce the number of roads we want to take at the same time, and concentrate so that whatever money we have is put into the road networks.

“I think this is where the Committee on works will have to come in. Let them specifically just select few roads that they can start and finish before the end of the year or within the budget so that we just thinly spread on the ground. Dualisation of Abuja_Lokoja has been on for about four to five years now there is no appreciable improvement in it at all just because the money is too thinly on ground.”

The 2011 appropriation was, however, read the second time and committed to the Senate Committees on Appropriation and Finance.