The House of Representatives, yesterday, began consideration on the N4.924 trillion 2013 budget presented by President Goodluck Jonathan last Wednesday.
House Speaker, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal said that debates on the budget would be concluded on Thursday.
The proposal is titled: “A Bill for an Act to authorise the issue from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation the total sum of N4.924 trillion of which N380 billion is for statutory transfers, N591 billion is for debt service, N2.412 trillion is for recurrent expenditure while the balance of N1.540 trillion is for contribution to the Development Fund for Capital Expenditure for the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2013.”
Jonathan’s N4.929 trillion budget estimate for 2013 comes with a revenue projection of N3.891 trillion for the same period. Federal lawmakers insist on an $80 per barrel of crude oil benchmark in opposition to the executive’s $75.
Leading up to today’s debate, Jonathan has been advised to instruct his economic management team to begin planning the 2013 budget on the$80 oil benchmark as recommended by the Lower House in the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) for 2013-2015.
Representative Amere Akintayo (Osun/ACN) told LEADERSHIP that the advice became necessary as the House of Representatives was not prepared to change its stance on the $80 oil benchmark.
Akintayo said that the executive have not presented facts and figures to support their objection to $5 increment to the oil benchmark.
“We gave reasons why the benchmark was raised and if we must remind ourselves, up till this moment, the bench mark for 2012 budget was never undermined, coupled with the fact that revenue generating agencies made well above their projected targets.
?All these are open for verification.
“The implication is that we were able to save but what are we doing with this savings. I think what we should be doing is to make use of this to the benefit of our people by giving these MDAs enough to execute their capital projects that will boost our economy.
“What we are after is the development of this country but the executive should not take us for a ride, where the executive deviates from the Appropriation Act, we will not hesitate to react and tell them the right thing to do. That is what the people that sent us here expect from us.” The Osun lawmaker told LEADERSHIP.