Six Senators yesterday stated that fundamental allocations proposed in the N4.357 trillion 2015 budget estimates being considered by the National Assembly were unrealistic. This was as they held that passing the budget as presented by the executive without the lawmakers altering it would amount to gross disservice to the country.
For two of the Senators, Kabiru Marafa and Odion Ugbesia, Nigerians should exercise patience as the passage of the budget will be delayed in order to protect the best interest of the country.
Marafa, who addressed newshounds over the weekend, asserted that his colleagues would subject the proposal to serious scrutiny more than ever before as it contains so many lopsided allocations and unrealistic projections.
He gave example with the allocation of about N64 billion for the rehabilitation of the ex-Niger Delta militants, whereas only N5 billion was allocated to the entire Northeast that is being ravaged by insurgency with loss of lives and property.
Ugbesia on his part held that the projections contained in the Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) which would be used to determine the allocations in the budget were no longer realistic as such the Senate will take time to work on the document.
His words, “We have to look at the budget realistically and put into cognizance, the oil prize as it is falling drastically. So, in looking at the proposal, the issue of oil price must be at the back of our mind so as to come up with a very balance budget. We don’t have to do anything bogus.”
The other Senators comprising Abdul Ningi (Bauchi Central), Olubunmi Adetunmbi (Ekiti Central ) and Ahmed Makarfi (Kaduna North) assured that the various Senate committees will critically examine details of the allocations in the budget which will be related with the economic reality on ground.
For Senator Victor Lar, who linked the unrealistic nature of the budget estimates to its lack of basic scientific approach, “the recurrent expenditure is over bloated; any oil benchmark outside of $30 to $35 is unrealistic. The budget must be further cut down by 100 per cent.
“The Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the country can fund the budget. Various public officers must make sacrifice by cutting cost of governance,” he asserted.
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