John Ameh and Olalekan Adetayo
President Muhammadu Buhari will today
(Wednesday) present the 2017 Appropriation Bill to a joint session of
the National Assembly.
The document will be the second one to be presented by the President after his inauguration in May 2015.
Buhari, who will be accompanied by top government officials, is expected to present the document at 10am.
The Federal Executive Council had on November 30 approved the document for presentation to the National Assembly.
Speaking to State House correspondents
at the end of the council’s meeting, the Minister of Budget and National
Planning, Udo Udoma, refused to give details of the budget proposal as
approved by the council.
He said it was only the President who would unveil the document on the floor of the National Assembly.
“The 2017 budget has been approved by
the Federal Executive Council and the details will be revealed when the
President presents the budget to the National Assembly,” Udoma said.
The budget of N6.07tn for 2016 was
predicated on a benchmark price of $38 per barrel of crude oil and N197
to a dollar exchange rate.
Meanwhile, members of the House of
Representatives have said that the key parameters of the 2017-2019
Medium Term Expenditure Framework upon which the budget will be based
are not sustainable, asking the Federal Government to seek more
realistic solutions to the economy.
They voiced their opinions as they
debated the MTEF in Abuja on Tuesday, less than 24 hours to the
presentation of the 2017 budget estimates to the legislature by the
President.
The development came as the Speaker, Mr.
Yakubu Dogara, declared a public hearing on the controversial Oil
Prospecting License 245 open, saying that the House was prepared to
assist the government to resolve the issues surrounding the lucrative
oil well.
Nigeria is believed to have lost over $1.1bn on the OPL 245, better known as Malabu oil deal.
The MTEF’s crude oil production, benchmark and exchange rate projections for 2017 did not receive the full backing of members.
The government plans to spend over N7tn
next year, but revenue projection is around N4.9tn, a figure that also
accommodates a huge deficit.
The Majority Leader of the House, Mr.
Femi Gbajabiamila, while leading the debate, urged his colleagues to
accept the projections.
Gbajabiamila argued that a sudden rise
in oil price by about $20 in the past few days suggested that the
government could sustain a benchmark of $42.5 proposed in the MTEF.
He also stated that ongoing negotiations
between the government and militants in the Niger Delta were
indications that peace could return to the region to make the 2.2
million barrels’ daily production projection realisable.
But, other lawmakers called for a review of the projections.
For instance, the Chairman, Committee on
Financial Crimes, Mr. Kayode Oladele, said the fact of oil price
gaining extra $20 did not justify retaining $42.5 as the benchmark price
for the 2017 budget.
He said the price could suddenly drop below $60 or $50, making whatever gains achieved useless.
Oladele said, “Let us look at the daily
oil production of 2.2 million barrels; it has not been achieved this
year and there are no signs that things will change.
“We can’t even rely on the $42.2 benchmark price because prices are likely to drop.”
Oladele also said the exchange rate of
N290 to $1 was not sustainable, adding, “The market rate today is
N490/$1, which makes the projection in the MTEF unrealistic.”
Another member, Mr. Shehu Garba, described the MTEF as a document that contained “so many illogical issues.”
“We cannot continue to use figures that
are unrealistic. Which of the three exchange rates will be used for
investment in Nigeria?” Garba queried.
The Minority Leader of the House, Mr.
Leo Ogor, also faulted the MTEF and asked how the government planned to
finance the budget deficit.
Ogor noted, “We have not achieved 2.2
million barrels per day of crude in the last five years. Then, there is
the budget deficit. We are looking at a revenue of N4.9tn or so, but we
want to spend more than N7tn.
“Where is the money going to come from to finance the budget?”
However, the Deputy Speaker, Mr. Yussuff
Lasun, advised members to downplay emphasis on the benchmark and the
exchange rate, and focus more on the government’s plan to diversify the
economy.
“What is more important to us is that
this government is serious about diversifying the economy. Let us allow
the government to use whatever proceeds from oil to diversify our
economy,” Lasun said.
The document was later passed for second reading.
Speaking at the hearing on the OPL 245,
Dogara recalled that efforts by successive governments to resolve the
controversies had failed, making Nigeria to appear before the
international community as a country that was not serious with its
anti-corruption crusade.
However, he expressed confidence in the current administration to end the controversies.
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