Lawmakers give conditions to pass Budget 2013

Lawmakers may have agreed – with some conditions – to pass the 2013 Appropriation Bill into law before going on break on December 20.
President Goodluck Jonathan presented a N4.9trillion proposal to the National Assembly on October 10, with a new fiscal calendar of January to December for effective implementation.
But the wobbly implementation of the 2012 budget pitched the Executive against the National Assembly, with members not favourably disposed to passing the 2013 Appropriation Bill.
Most of the members are insisting on the full implementation of the 2012 budget before passing next year’s appropriation into law.
The grouses of the lawmakers on this year’s budget compelled the President to meet with Senate President David Mark and House Speaker Aminu Tambuwal on Wednesday night.
It was learnt that at the meeting, the President resolved the grey areas with the leadership of the National Assembly.
According to sources, the National Assembly leaders had opted to “cooperate with the President in order not to create an image of always being at loggerheads with the Executive”.
But the “gentleman” agreement could only work if the President is comfortable with conditions set by the National Assembly, a source said.
The conditions are to jack up benchmark to $80 per barrel; extend the 2012 budget fiscal year to January as insisted on by the House; limited exposure to foreign loans; and assurance of timely release of allocations to MDAs for capital projects
A principal officer in one of the chambers of the National Assembly said: “We have agreed to pass the budget before going on break for Christmas, but with some conditions. So, all things being equal, the fiscal year will run from January to December in 2013. With this, we would have solved the problem of overlapping implementation of the nation’s budget.
Asked of the conditions, the source said: “For instance, we are adamant on the $80 per barrel benchmark because we want Nigerians to derive maximum benefits from the 2013 budget. There is no point starving to save scarce resources when Nigerians wallow in abject poverty.
“We believe that with $80 benchmark, the economy will be able to absorb some shocks and be reinvigorated.
“If the President and his team have a rethink on their proposed $75 benchmark, it will assist our ongoing understanding on the 2013 budget.”
A Senator said: “In agreeing to pass the 2013 Appropriation Bill, some of us sought for concrete assurance that there will be timely release of allocations for capital projects. This is the only way we can have a smooth implementation of the budget. We hope the Executive will not renege on the promise it gave to our leadership in this respect.”
A top official of the House, however, said: “We are serious in our agitation for the extension of 2012 fiscal year to January 2013 to enable us monitor the use of the allocations for the Fourth Quarter.
“We foresee a waste of fourth quarter allocations, and diversion of public funds. We want a commitment from the Executive on this.”
Another senator said: “In agreeing to pass the budget, we asked our leadership to prevail on the Executive to stop incurring debts. Our debt profile at present is about $10billion without any concrete project to show for it.
“If we go ahead at this rate, we will soon return to the debt era before ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo came to secure relief.
“I can tell you that Senators and members of the House are on the same page on these conditions.”