The House of Representatives on Monday said the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, must answer the 50 questions asked by its committee on Finance during the presentation of the 2014 budget minister on December 19 last year.
The Chairman of the House Committee on Finance, Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin, had insisted that the 2014 budget would not be considered until the minister answers the 50 questions asked at the forum.
The committee had given Okonjo -Iweala two weeks to submit a written response to the questions which bordered on the economy, but she has requested for more time to respond.
Speaking at a pre- resumption press briefing on Monday, the Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Hon. Zakari Mohammed, said the Committee on Finance was acting under the mandate given to it by the House and as such, the minister should answer the 50 questions as it would aid the House in the consideration of the budget.
He said, “The Finance Committee has a mandate of the House and the Committee must report back to the House what it was asked to do.
“It is the House in its wisdom that will devise the next line of action, the Finance Committee has done the assignment given to it by the House and will have to go back to the House to take a decision.
“Definitely on resumption, the Finance Committee would brief the House and thereafter we draw conclusions and inferences. We must consider the budget because it’s a money bill but we will not be blackmailed or bamboozled to just assume it’s a case of garbage in, garbage out. Anybody who thinks it is going to be like that is just joking because we are going to ensure a sense of fairness in its consideration to the benefit of Nigerians who are our employers.” Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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While the House members and their supporters might argue that they are just carrying out their jobs, a study of the questions the minister was asked makes one question the capacity of these legislators.
ReplyDeleteFor example, question number 4 calls into question the knowledge of economics those on the House Finance Committee have, when they are asking why our economy is not growing at 20% per annum; or when question 5 where they are asking why our debt-to-GDP ratio is low compared to industrialized nations conflicts with question 9, where they are lamenting Nigeria’s high level of debt and wondering if the debt has been productive.
The question that worries the most is question 7, where they questioned Nigeria’s “rush into wholesale privatization of the electricity sector, when countries like South Africa are generating 54,000MW from a power sector still in public hands.” It is worrisome for me because the Electric Power Sector Reform Act (EPSRA), the law which ended government’s monopoly on the power sector was in the National Assembly for four years until it was passed in 2005, and the privatization process begun from that year until its conclusion last year. Yet, they still called it a “rush”.
Space will not allow me to dissect each question, especially as there were many repetitions, although some questions are very relevant, such as questions 14 and 16.
You are a complete simpleton. I guess that woman is ur mum or girlfriend
ReplyDeleteThese mumu members of the house should leave NG alone, if they can do better let JONA appoint them in his new cabinet. FOOLS!
ReplyDeleteWhy are we in the habit of calling each other names? How can a country with people like anon 2 and matosky ever move forward. If you don't have any useful comments why not shut up and read from intelligent commentators? Anon1 well done, please enlighten us more.
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