2013 Budget: NASS Bows To Presidency Restores ‘Missing’ N77bn Personnel Vote

The Senate, on Monday, bowed to pressure from the presidency to consider a proposed amendment to the 2013 budget, as the lawmakers restored the missing N77billion meant for personnel cost and eventually passed the proposed N4.9trillion for the fiscal year.

nigeriaThe upper legislative body of the National Assembly, in a sudden U-turn, approved the proposed amendments, but insisted that N4.9trillion budget was almost the same with the earlier figure and provisions contained in the original 2013 budget approved by the lawmakers in December and accented to by President Goodluck Jonathan last February.

The latest position of the Senate was in sharp contradiction to its earlier stance, as it had, earlier in the month, insisted that a fresh amendment to the 2013 budget, as requested by President Goodluck Jonathan, would not be attended to until late September when the lawmakers are expected to resume session. However, Senate spokesman, Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe, had hinted earlier in the week that the upper legislative body decided to rescind its earlier decision in the interest of Nigerians.

President Jonathan had, in a letter addressed to Senate President David Mark and read on the floor, told the Senate to restore the over N77billion the lawmakers allegedly unilaterally removed from the 2013 budget for sundry projects. The president had reminded the Senate that the personnel cost was cut across all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), warning that failure to restore the money would lead to stunted national growth. In the same vein, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr (Mrs) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, had recently warned that the economy might soon collapse should the Senate fail to pass the amended version of the 2013 budget.

In passing the amended version of the budget, the senators, after a marathon closed session however, advised the executive to keep faith to the approved budget. The Senate President tasked the standing committees of the Senate to step up their oversight functions on the executive and government agencies. In his lead debate, chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriation, Senator Mohammad Maccido, said the 2013 Appropriation Act (Amendment) Bill, sent to the National Assembly was not significantly different from the 2013 Appropriation Act that was passed by the legislature and accented to by President Jonathan early this year.

“The Senate may recall that the 2013 Appropriation Bill was passed by the National Assembly on December 20, 2012 in the sum of N4,987,220,425,601 and was accented to by Mr President, Commander-in-Chief on the 15th of February, 2013. “Mr President thereafter, on 14th March, 2013, forwarded to the Senate an amendment bill. This was followed by a new version on 4th June, 2013, which contained some observations on the Appropriation Act, requesting for adjustment of the budget.

“The amendment bill, which seeks to authorise issue from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation the total sum of N4,987,382,196,690 only, was read a second time on Tuesday, 23rd July, 2013 and referred to the committee for further legislative action”, he said. Senator Maccido said his committee engaged relevant standing committees, in an effort to get their inputs and/or reactions to the amendment sought by the executive arm of government.

He said the committee observed that the provisions in the bill for personnel costs had been restored, adding that the amendment bill, as worked upon by the appropriation committees of both chambers of the National Assembly, did not increase the aggregate expenditure from what was contained in the 2013 Appropriation Act. He, therefore, said, “Given the above, I hereby move that the Senate do consider and approve the 2013 Appropriation Act (Amendment) Bill, in the sum of N4,987,220,425,601 only.”