Most senators, who spoke on the general principles of the budget on Thursday, agreed that the fiscal document was unrealistic in that it did not take into account the recent flood disaster that ravaged many states in the country.
They argued that the budget should have provided some funding to tackle the humanitarian challenges facing the nation as a result of the disaster.
Presenting the lead debate, the Leader of the Senate, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, urged his colleagues to support the quick passage of the budget proposal, saying the government also planned to spend N971bn on petroleum subsidy next year.
He said there would be changes in the budget as a result of the severe flooding experienced in large parts of the country, which would impact on economic activities in 2013, especially agriculture.
Ndoma-Egba said, “The growth prospect may be improved, however, with the plan to boost agriculture. Similarly, the budget of the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme was laid alongside the budget for our consideration. This will promote transparency in the oil subsidy management.
“It is a budget that gives priority to this administration’s concern for security, infrastructure, food security and human development sectors. It is a budget that introduces a series of innovative features.”
He noted that some of the important highlights of the budget included provision of N100bn as sinking fund for domestic debt reduction.
Ndoma-Egba said the budget underscored the intention of government to focus on building social infrastructure, promotion of agriculture and the industrial sector; women empowerment and employment; and wealth creation.
Senator Victor Lar said flood had ravaged many parts of the country, adding that there was a need for a supplementary budget to cater for the challenges resulting from the development.
He warned that leakages inherent in the system, which hampered the implementation of the 2012 budget, were still present and could stall the effective implementation of next year’s budget.
The senators were concerned about the poor implementation of the 2012 budget urging the government to pay more attention to the implementation of the 2013 budget.
Senator Solomon Ewuga said given the concerns raised, it could be concluded that the last two budgets had not impacted on the lives of the people.
Senator Olubumi Adetumbi, in his comments, said the National Assembly should help the Executive to shift from the ritual of annual budgeting to proper planning.
He said President Goodluck Jonathan should explain the input of the Oronsaye panel’s report in the budget, given the plans by the government to bring down recurrent expenditure.
Adetumbi recommended the creation of an oversight body by the Senate to monitor the activities of the SURE-P programme.
Senator Ayogu Eze expressed concerns about the piecemeal release of statutory allocations to agencies on the first line charge.
“We have N380bn as statutory transfers. I hope that it will be implemented in the spirit of statutory transfers. The agencies should not go cap in hand to the Ministry of Finance to ask for the funds,” he said.
He called for the amendment of the Procurement Act so that funding of projects would be beyond the usual 12-month funding plan.
The Minority Whip, Senator Ganiyu Solomon, expressed concern over the nation’s increasing debt profile despite the fact that Nigeria spent N591bn annually for debt servicing.
He said the oil price benchmark should be increased to reduce national debt to the barest minimum.
Senator Shola Adeyeye blamed the infrastructural decay in the education sector on lack of inspection and total neglect.
In his remarks, the President of the Senate, David Mark, said the concern over the budget had been that of implementation.
He said, “We should do our oversight work properly. When we look at our reports, we should be able to know whether the budget was implemented or not.
“Revenue generation is important. We should get to the root of how much we realised at the end of the year and know what was utilised. Our committees should find out.”
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