BY SIMON EBEGBULEM

BENIN—THE senator representing Edo North senatorial district in the Senate, Senator Domingo Obende, said yesterday that the performance of the 2013 budget will form the basis for the passage of the 2014 budget presented to the lawmakers by President Goodluck Jonathan.

Domingo, in Benin City, Edo State, lamented that the executive had failed to achieve 40 per cent implementation over the years, stressing that the National Assembly would not be in a hurry to pass the 2014 budget “because we want the best for Nigerians.”

He acknowledged that the National Assembly had in the past hurriedly passed the budget so as not to be accused of being a clog to the progress of the executive, “ but this time around, we want to correct past mistakes, so the executive has to provide us with details of how the 2013 budget was implemented before we talk about the 2014 budget.

“The performance of the 2013 budget would form the basis for the passage of this year’s budget, because we had observed that despite efforts made by the National Assembly to ensure that Nigerians get the best, the executive has not lived up to expectations in terms of budget implementation. It has failed to achieve 40 per cent budget performance.

“Since being a member of the National Assembly, I have not seen the budget achieve up to 40 per cent performance and I do not think 2013 is going to be any different. If 2013 budget is not going to be different, those implementing the budget need to tell us other strategies they would adopt to ensure that our budget achieves at least 65 per cent to 70 per cent.

“But I can tell you clearly that nobody is going to rush the 2014 budget. The executive brought it late. The executive took its time to bring it and we will take our time to look at it and the best is what we are going to give Nigerians. Our concern is that when you are building a house, there is a foundation, without a foundation, there is no structure. So, the 2013 budget is the foundation for that of 2014.”