The Senate on Wednesday frowned at alleged fiscal indiscipline among Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government, vowing to deal with any government agency which fails to comply with the Fiscal Responsibility Act.
Senators, after exhaustive debate on the 2015 budget, passed it to the second reading stage as the Upper Chamber adjourned till February 17.
The bill, which was read by the Leader of Senate, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba sought to authorise the issuance from the consolidated revenue fund of the federation the total sum of N4,357,960,000 only as against the 2014 budget of N4.6 trillion.
The breakdown of the budget includes the statutory transfer, which cost is N411,840,000,000; the debt service cost, N943,000,000,000; and the recurrent (non-debt) expenditure cost, N2,616,007,426,233.
Lastly, the contribution to the development fund for capital expenditure, N387,112,573,767.
The parameters of the 2015 budget include the benchmark oil price of $65 per barrel, projected oil production of 2.2782 million barrels per day and the average exchange rate of N165 to a dollar.
The senators were angry that money generated by MDAs are not remitted into the Federation Account as stipulated in the constitution.
Senator Mohammed Makarfi said the budget should not be taken lightly but with extreme caution, stating it should be a wake up call.
Makarfi also said the cost of governance should be cut down in order to save the country’s finances because this moment is a trying time for the country.
In his own comment on the bill, Senator Ayogu Eze also added that the appropriation bill is based mainly on the aspect of oil.
Eze said: “It is very disheartening that a country projected to spend N1.3 billion is spending only N307 million.
“How can we be spending N2.3 million on power alone?
“Our people will suffer and there will be no employment.
“It is a budget of cultural reforms and also needs to be reformed.”
In his own contribution, Senator Ita Enag said: “I am celebrating the fall of oil so that we can go back to see the amount of money generated by these agency and determine the 20 per cent they should spend and the 80 per cent they should transmit to the Federation Account.
“We should go back to these instruments.
“How do countries that do not produce oil survive?
“It is through money they generate internally.
“Where is the excess crude account?
“The benchmark was $73 per barrel but oil sold over $100 per barrel.
“Where is the excess crude share of the Federal Government?
“We are guilty because I raised alarm that no money from the excess crude should be expended without the consent of the National Assembly.”
Enang also demanded that prices of petroleum products be reviewed downward without waiting for Labour unions to go on strike.
This, he said, will force down the cost of living.
Senator Emmanuel Bwacha in his comment on budget said this is a trying moment for the nation, adding that there was the need to look inward in order to overcome the problem facing the country economically.
After debate on the bill, the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, said: “I am happy that we have woken up to our responsibilities and this is also a wake up call to our nation as we face this challenging times of economic recession and the downward trend in our oil revenue.
“I do believe that this is the time for us as a parliament to ensure that while considering the appropriation bill for 2015, all the revenue items are captured.
“Our Committee on Finance will help us to do that.
“We need to ensure that all the revenue items are captured in the budget and determine a pool of resources to implement the budget when passed.
“The Federal Government should also put up its thinking cap to develop new areas of revenue generation that would help us to drive our economy.
“We have gone through this way before, but eventually the oil price improved but unfortunately we did not learn any lesson while we enjoy the oil boom.
“I hope that this period, we will learn our lesson that will help us to be disciplined in our fiscal management and it is also time for us to also take seriously our fiscal federalism so that states can devolve their initiatives in increasing their revenue that would help them to manage themselves.”
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