2016 BUDGET: Senators questions N3.9bn for Aso Rock renovation
Thu Jan 21, 2016 11:09:am Politics
2.4K By sosa hills
Senate members of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) has described President Mohammadu Buhari's allocation of N3.7 billion for Aso Rock renovation as curious. This was said during the commencement of the Senators debates of the 2016 national budget on Wednesday.
The lawmakers explained that ,former President Goodluck Jonathan had renovated the Presidential Villa in readiness for Buhari's occupation and therefore described the project as unwarranted.
The opposition lawmakers also raised posers over President Buhari's spreading of the N1.7 billion voted for vehicles in the budget he presented on December 22, 2015 to other units and activities in the Presidency in the corrected version of the Appropriation Bill.
But the All Progressives Congress (APC) kicked against the PDP lawmakers' observations and remarks and went ahead to praise the President for a job well done.
The first outburst at the 2016 Appropriation Bill was fired by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe (PDP-Abia South) when he said that the budget is "dead on arrival."
Abaribe, who is an economist, queried the inability of the Finance Minister, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, to give a detailed breakdown of the budget as done by successive administrations and wondered how an appropriation bill that increases spending by 30 percent, solely on borrowing, could be justified.
He said: "It is a budget of Change, I agree; but it is a change in the wrong direction. I say it is a change in the wrong direction because it says that it is based on zero-budgeting, requiring all expenses to be fully justified.
"Mr President, a budget that increases spending up to 30 percent based solely on borrowing; in what way is it justified? That is the question we want to ask the people who brought this budget.
"We ask a question: this budget has moved the 2015 Budget from N4.45 trillion to N6 trillion and we felt that moving it on zero-based budgeting should actually show how it is done. Of course, we get nothing; all we get is that we are going to borrow."
Abaribe also questioned the rational for raising the allocation to the Presidency (Aso Villa) from N580 million to N1.7 billion. He noted that the bogus hike at a time the country is in serious economic recession cannot represent the change mantra of the APC.
He said: "Mr President, a budget that moves domestic spending within Aso Villa from N580 million to N1.7 billion cannot be a budget of change. We were told that in the revised budget there was an adjustment due to an error; we agree, but what has happened is that up to N7 billion was moved from buying vehicles to being spread in offices.
"It also increases the spending that is due to renovations within the Villa: they are going to renovate the Villa with N3.9 billion: what else do you want to renovate there that Nigerians will see in 2016?"
The Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu called for the overhaul of the budget, saying that it was out of tune with the current global economic recession.
He said: "I am not an economist but I know that if my income is N100, 000 and suddenly I start earning N30, 000 and I tell my children that we will now be spending N120, 000, they will start wondering where I will get the money from.
"We have always increased the budget of this country from between 10 and 20 percent; I just want to appeal that for the first time we should be able to reduce that budget by the same 20 to 30 percent. That is in order for us to be realistic otherwise it will not be implementable," Ekweremandu stated.
He called a communication tax law for Nigerians that use phones or send a message.
Ekweremadu also advised the government to rather consider funding the budget through internally generated revenue like tax and banks transactions.
He also condemned what he described as sectional allocation of funds to states and geopolitical zones and urged committees handling the budget to be fair in their appropriation of funds to capital projects across the country.
"I am also worried about the spread; there should be equity in some of the figures. I hope our colleagues will do the right thing.
"Look at it; the Kano-Maiduguri Expressway to have N10 billion, the Enugu-Port Harcourt N10 billion, Enugu Onitsha N3 billion but Lagos-Ibadan has N55 billion."
Senator John Enoh (PDP-Cross River) expressed fears that unless concrete steps were taken to overhaul the Appropriation Bill, it may not achieve the lofty dreams of the Buhari led government.
"If you look at the kind of improvement in the figures for capital expenditures there is a 30 percent increase no doubt and it is about 23 percent yearly growth in terms of different terms of our capital. But if you look at the recurrent, it is just an improvement at nine percent and I think that what we have succeeded in doing in this budget is to actually tidy up the figures without doing much in terms of efficient management."
Suleiman Adokwe (PDP, Nasarawa South) cautioned against borrowing to fund the budget, saying it would be unwise for any nation to ignore the advice of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) against borrowing to fund its budget.
Senator Peter Nwaoboshi (Delta) said that the budget was a huge fraud, pointing out missing pages in the document that was supposed to have addressed certain items.
"This budget is a fraud because it is not predicated on the right oil justification of $38 percent per barrel. They should fill these gaps so that we will not pass this budget and they will go back again to fill the gaps with different figures.
"First, in that document, so many portions are missing. Look at it, you cannot find pages 191,195,197,198, 200 and 201 in this budget and it's suspect. What do they want that they tactically avoided filling in these sections?"
Senator Ahmed Lawan (APC-Yobe), who felt offended by Abaribe's hard stance on the budget, said the present global economic recession should not be blamed on the nation's economic woes but on PDP's misrule.
He said: "The problem is and has always been corruption. For 16 years Nigeria was subjected to impunity. The PDP government has never implemented the budget up to 40 percent and this has seriously affected the country.
"This is the first time a budget is not depending on oil; it is an opportunity for this administration to ensure that we diversify the economy," Lawan said.
Senator Gbenga Ashafa (APC-Lagos) applauded the wisdom in providing for the physically challenged but wondered where the fund would be sourced from since no provision was made for it in the budget.
He called for a supplementary budget to address issues that are not captured in the budget.
The lawmakers explained that ,former President Goodluck Jonathan had renovated the Presidential Villa in readiness for Buhari's occupation and therefore described the project as unwarranted.
The opposition lawmakers also raised posers over President Buhari's spreading of the N1.7 billion voted for vehicles in the budget he presented on December 22, 2015 to other units and activities in the Presidency in the corrected version of the Appropriation Bill.
But the All Progressives Congress (APC) kicked against the PDP lawmakers' observations and remarks and went ahead to praise the President for a job well done.
The first outburst at the 2016 Appropriation Bill was fired by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe (PDP-Abia South) when he said that the budget is "dead on arrival."
Abaribe, who is an economist, queried the inability of the Finance Minister, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, to give a detailed breakdown of the budget as done by successive administrations and wondered how an appropriation bill that increases spending by 30 percent, solely on borrowing, could be justified.
He said: "It is a budget of Change, I agree; but it is a change in the wrong direction. I say it is a change in the wrong direction because it says that it is based on zero-budgeting, requiring all expenses to be fully justified.
"Mr President, a budget that increases spending up to 30 percent based solely on borrowing; in what way is it justified? That is the question we want to ask the people who brought this budget.
"We ask a question: this budget has moved the 2015 Budget from N4.45 trillion to N6 trillion and we felt that moving it on zero-based budgeting should actually show how it is done. Of course, we get nothing; all we get is that we are going to borrow."
Abaribe also questioned the rational for raising the allocation to the Presidency (Aso Villa) from N580 million to N1.7 billion. He noted that the bogus hike at a time the country is in serious economic recession cannot represent the change mantra of the APC.
He said: "Mr President, a budget that moves domestic spending within Aso Villa from N580 million to N1.7 billion cannot be a budget of change. We were told that in the revised budget there was an adjustment due to an error; we agree, but what has happened is that up to N7 billion was moved from buying vehicles to being spread in offices.
"It also increases the spending that is due to renovations within the Villa: they are going to renovate the Villa with N3.9 billion: what else do you want to renovate there that Nigerians will see in 2016?"
The Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu called for the overhaul of the budget, saying that it was out of tune with the current global economic recession.
He said: "I am not an economist but I know that if my income is N100, 000 and suddenly I start earning N30, 000 and I tell my children that we will now be spending N120, 000, they will start wondering where I will get the money from.
"We have always increased the budget of this country from between 10 and 20 percent; I just want to appeal that for the first time we should be able to reduce that budget by the same 20 to 30 percent. That is in order for us to be realistic otherwise it will not be implementable," Ekweremandu stated.
He called a communication tax law for Nigerians that use phones or send a message.
Ekweremadu also advised the government to rather consider funding the budget through internally generated revenue like tax and banks transactions.
He also condemned what he described as sectional allocation of funds to states and geopolitical zones and urged committees handling the budget to be fair in their appropriation of funds to capital projects across the country.
"I am also worried about the spread; there should be equity in some of the figures. I hope our colleagues will do the right thing.
"Look at it; the Kano-Maiduguri Expressway to have N10 billion, the Enugu-Port Harcourt N10 billion, Enugu Onitsha N3 billion but Lagos-Ibadan has N55 billion."
Senator John Enoh (PDP-Cross River) expressed fears that unless concrete steps were taken to overhaul the Appropriation Bill, it may not achieve the lofty dreams of the Buhari led government.
"If you look at the kind of improvement in the figures for capital expenditures there is a 30 percent increase no doubt and it is about 23 percent yearly growth in terms of different terms of our capital. But if you look at the recurrent, it is just an improvement at nine percent and I think that what we have succeeded in doing in this budget is to actually tidy up the figures without doing much in terms of efficient management."
Suleiman Adokwe (PDP, Nasarawa South) cautioned against borrowing to fund the budget, saying it would be unwise for any nation to ignore the advice of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) against borrowing to fund its budget.
Senator Peter Nwaoboshi (Delta) said that the budget was a huge fraud, pointing out missing pages in the document that was supposed to have addressed certain items.
"This budget is a fraud because it is not predicated on the right oil justification of $38 percent per barrel. They should fill these gaps so that we will not pass this budget and they will go back again to fill the gaps with different figures.
"First, in that document, so many portions are missing. Look at it, you cannot find pages 191,195,197,198, 200 and 201 in this budget and it's suspect. What do they want that they tactically avoided filling in these sections?"
Senator Ahmed Lawan (APC-Yobe), who felt offended by Abaribe's hard stance on the budget, said the present global economic recession should not be blamed on the nation's economic woes but on PDP's misrule.
He said: "The problem is and has always been corruption. For 16 years Nigeria was subjected to impunity. The PDP government has never implemented the budget up to 40 percent and this has seriously affected the country.
"This is the first time a budget is not depending on oil; it is an opportunity for this administration to ensure that we diversify the economy," Lawan said.
Senator Gbenga Ashafa (APC-Lagos) applauded the wisdom in providing for the physically challenged but wondered where the fund would be sourced from since no provision was made for it in the budget.
He called for a supplementary budget to address issues that are not captured in the budget.
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