Despite Inaccuracies in MDAs Budget Estimates, N’Assembly Moves to Pass 2024 Appropriation Bill

Sunday Aborisade reports that various Inaccuracies discovered in the budgets of ministries, departments and agencies of the Federal Government will not prevent the passage of the 2024 Appropriation Bill before the end of the year by the National Assembly.

President Bola  Tinubu’s 2024 “Budget of Renewed Hope,” was laid before the joint session of the National Assembly on November 30, 2023 and the fiscal document was passed for Second Reading two days later and referred it to the Committee on Appropriation.

The amendments of the parliament rules to accomodate the first and second reading on same day was in response to the observed time constraint of barely one month to the end of year 2023.

The leadership of the apex legislative institution also sought the understanding of their members to uphold the task of sustaining the January to December Budget Circle.

Knowing fully well that the need to pass the Bill within record time had become imperative, the debate on the General Principles of the 2024 Appropriation Bill commenced in earnest in the two chambers.

In the Senate, the Majority Leader of the Chamber, Senator Bamidele Opeyemi (APC, Ekiti Central) led the debate which lasted two days before progressing to next legislative stage.

Speaking on the Bill, Chairman of Senate Committee on Appropriation, Senator Olamilekan Adeola (APC, Ogun West) said the Upper Legislative Chamber has set up a template for the speedy consideration and passage of the 2024 Money Bill.

He added that the 10th National Assembly intended to make the budget impactful.

Adeola disclosed that his Committee had a preparatory meeting with the Senate Committees Chairmen on the consideration and expeditious passage of the Bill.

He noted that the Senate Committees along with their counterparts in the House of Representatives would have joint deliberations and engagements on Budget defence by ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) in order to reduce time wastage and hasten up the passage of the Bill.

On his part, Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Jibrin Barau, explained that the National Assembly would pass the 2024 Appropriation Bill of N27.5tn on Tuesday, December 19, before the lawmakers  would embark on their Christmas and New Year break.

The federal lawmakers during the debate on the general principles of the fiscal document, applauded President Tinubu for his good intentions for the country, but some lamented the failure of the executive to provide the details of the budget.

Attempts by Senator Sumaila Kawu to stop the debate on the budget proposal was ruled out by the presiding officer.

Kawu had come under a point of order to draw the attention of his colleagues to the fact that they would not be able to contribute meaningfully because details of the money bill were not made available to the lawmakers.

The decision of the presiding officer to rule Kawu out of order, fuelled speculations that President Tinubu laid an empty box before the parliament.

House of Representatives debunks Claim

Spokesperson for the House, Hon Akin Rotimi (APC, Ekiti) insisted that the President presented the hard copies of the budget, contrary to the claim made by Yusuf Galambi, a member of the lower chamber.

Rotimi said, “Of course, what else would be inside? Do you think the president would bring empty papers? How do people make grievous allegations?

“So this is a calculated attempt to discredit the system and to make people lose confidence in the system. It is considered a serious thing,” the legislator said.

The red chamber began the budget consideration, a day after the president’s presentation.

The breakdown was however, not available for deliberation.

The development was, however, a deviation from the previous budget considerations in the parliament.

Senator Sumaila Kawu, shortly before the debate said, “We are representing interests here. Where are the budget details? We need to have the bill. We don’t have any idea on the sectoral allocations and what our constituents will be getting. It is very strange in the parliament.”

Also, Senator Mohammed Ogoshi Onawo said lawmakers’ contributions on the budget would be limited because there were no details of the proposals except what the president presented penultimate Wednesday.

Senator Binos Dauda Yaroe, who also cautioned against rushing the budget consideration, said the two supplementary budgets earlier passed by the parliament were not thoroughly scrutinised due to inadequate time.

Deputy Senate President, Senator Jibrin Barau, however, faulted the submissions of his colleagues, saying the Senate had all it needed to proceed with the budget consideration.

According to him: “During second reading, it is only the merits and demerits of a bill that are debated, not the details.

“The president had talked about the merits and demerits of the 2024 Appropriations bill and what we have before us is the entire speech made by the president yesterday (Wednesday).

“By virtue of our rule 79, we have all it takes to conduct the second reading of the bill.”

Other senators during their contributions to the debate, praised Tinubu for the budget proposals, but sought the allocation of capital projects to their constituencies, which they claimed were neglected by the federal government.

“Convert palliatives to capital projects and we will sort ourselves out. Humanitarian and palliatives be converted to roads construction,” said Senator Garba Maidoki.

The conclusion of the general principles debate and eventual passage of the bill for second reading, opened the floodgate for massive budget defence by the various committees who attended to heads of the MDAs that appeared before them.

Both chambers however adopted a joint defence approach to shorten the time for such engagement.

First to appear for budget defence session, was the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, who last Monday, lamented that his Ministry only got releases for capital expenditure in the 2023 budget on the 1st of December 2023, less than 30 days to the end of the fiscal year.

Making similar lamentation of inadequate funding during budget defence session last week, was the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Correctional Service (NCS), Haliru Nababa, who told the National Assembly Committee on Interior that  monies spent on dogs, are more  than those spent on inmates.

He told the committee chaired by Senator Adams Oshiomhole (APC Edo North), that while an  inmate is fed on N750 per day, dog is fed with N800 daily.

“The Nigeria Correctional Service has severally  written the Minister of Interior requesting for the review of the amount we are using to feed the inmates from N750 per day, to N3,000 per day but still waiting for approval”, he lamented.

In a similar lamentation at another session, the Director General of Micheal Imodu National Institute for Labour Studies, Comrade Issa Aremu, told the labour committee that the N1.4 billion projected for the Institute for the  2024 fiscal year, was inadequate.

He said, “This budget is very small, and it’s consistent with what the ministers have said. N2.6 billion was our proposal, but this is what they are giving us, N1.4 billion.

“It’s surprising that the parent ministry itself has a budget of N10 billion, out of a national budget of N27.5 trillion. How can the ministry perform?

“The only way we can assist the President (Bola Tinubu) in its job creation agenda, is for us to be properly funded.”

The Group Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), Mele Kyari, also appeared before the appropriations committee.

He specifically lamented the high rate of illegal connections on oil pipelines in the country by illegal refiners, which according to him, has affected the functionality of the over 5,000 kilometres oil pipelines across the country.

He said: “As it is today, about 4,800 illegal connections are made on the over 5,000 oil pipelines across the country.

“The illegal connections on oil pipelines in the Niger Delta is so rampant that within 100 kilometres of the affected pipelines, 300 insertions are made on them, which eventually made the pipe to be weak to the point of not being able to hold pressure of oil pumped, let alone, delivering it to targeted destination.

“Additionally, it is abnormal to engage non – state actors to protect critical assets  like oil pipeline. We have however responded abnormally and getting results, because unlike as it was in July 2022 when less than 1.2million barrels of oil were produced by day, it has been 15million barrels per day within the last two to three months”.

Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Senator Abubakar Kyari, in his own lamentation while appearing before the committee on Agriculture said: “Several factors like insecurity and naira re–design policy carried out about a year ago, impoverished the farmers and severely threatened food security in the country.

“The cash crunch caused by the Naira re – design, made most of the farmers sold their farm produce at give away price for survival, since buyers couldn’t access cash to buy the produce from them. The policy which coincided with harvest season, ended rendering the farmers empty financially “.

The Senate Committee on Trade and Industry last Tuesday condemned the alleged allocation of N1 billion for a foreign trip to Geneva, Switzerland, by the Ministry of Trade and Investment.

Members of the panel gave the condemnation when the Minister of Trade and Industry, Anite Doris Uzoka, appeared before the committee to defend the 2024 budget estimate of the ministry.

Speaking during the session, Senator Adams Oshiomhole said,  “I see that you intend to travel to Geneva next year and you have budgeted over N1 billion for that. We can’t keep going on with over bloated teams on foreign trips. Use the experts we have in your offices in the country to save cost”

Oshiomhole also complained that the Minister, Uzoka, was not always in her office during the period he visited.

He said, “Madam sit in your office and work for Nigerians. I have gone there twice. You are always in the Bank of Industry. If you preferred BoI, you should have declined the President’s nomination to be Ninister.”

The Minister, Doris Uzoka-Anite, was quiet while the Senator made the allegations only for her to refute the report when she returned to her office.

She said the proposed N1 billion budget was for the maintenance of the ministry’s office at the World Trade Centre, located in Geneva.