Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, has advised that the global crash in crude oil prices should be seen as a wakeup call for Nigeria to diversify from a mono-economy that relies only on revenue from oil in order to survive.
Dogara disclosed this on Tuesday in his speech to welcome back his colleagues from the two-week Christmas recess and the resumption of plenary.
He maintained that the crashing prices of crude oil in the international market and the resultant impact on the nation’s economywere as a result of Nigerians’ collective failure over the years to diversify from a mono-product economy.
His words, “It is a wakeup call for walking the talk on diversification which has been our rethorics for decades and we have no excuse for letting this opportunity slip by again. I believe, dear colleagues, that this realization will shape our views and decisions as we consider the 2016 Appropriation Bill.”
While urging the House members to expeditiously pass the 2016 Appropriation Bill into law, he reminded them that so many Nigerians were hurting because of the downturn being experienced in the economy, especially the sufferings of construction workers, majority of whom have not received their salaries for months and those laid off because of the inability of government to settle outstanding debts owed the firms.
The Speaker consequently advised his colleagues to be on the same page with the Muhammadu Buhari administration in tackling the rising unemployment in the country, asserting that “since job creation is one of the fundamental policies of the APC administration, we cannot treat job losses lightly.”
According to him, “As true representatives of the people, we owe a duty to make haste and whether we make haste slowly or we slowly make haste, we must hasten those long nights of despair into a glorious morning for our citizens who hope to go back to work as soon as government pays the firms they were working for.
“We must therefore pass the 2016 budget which includes Mr. President’s proposals on job creation early, to restore confidence in existing obligations and the economy generally.”
As a way of birthing an orderly and predictable budgeting system in Nigeria, Dogara disclosed that the House will seek to amend Sections 81(1) and 82 of the constitution to ensure that annual budgets are submitted three months before the end of every financial year, including reducing from six months to three months the period allowed for pre budget expenditure authorization by the president.
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