ABUJA, Federal Republic of Nigeria. Both chambers of the National Assembly yesterday approved N574.5bn as 2015 supplementary appropriation budget.
The amount represents additional sum of N108bn to the N465.6bn originally requested for by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The N108bn difference is meant for the payment of fuel subsidy for the last quarter of this year.
Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriation, Senator Danjuma Goje, stated that the N413bn earlier proposed for fuel subsidy claims in President Buhari’s letter of request, only covers N120.5bn 2014 arrears and N292.8bn as claims for January to September 2015, excluding the remaining three months of October, November and December 2015 .
He added that the increase also correspondingly increased the total aggregate expenditure of the 2015 budget from N4.9trn to N5.067trn.
Highlights of the N574.5bn supplementary budget aside the N521bn appropriated for fuel subsidy claims include N29.958bn for security votes against Boko Haram insurgency, N10.6 billion for allowances of outgone and incoming legislators and legislative aides at the National Assembly, N8.1bn for Nigerian Air Force and N5bn for Boko Haram victims support fund.
The budget is predicated on oil production of 2.2003 million barrels per day, oil benchmark price of $48 per barrel and an exchange rate of N190 to $1.
In passing the budget, the Senate vowed to follow up the processes of payment of the N521bn voted for subsidy claims by oil marketers.
According to the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, Senate’s decision to pass the budget expeditiously was driven by the need to urgently solve the problem of fuel scarcity in the country at this critical time of the year despite the clear sabotage being suspected in the whole subsidy claims by marketers.
He vowed that the Senate would nevertheless through thorough oversight functions by relevant committees, follow up how the N521bn would be spent and stop such sabotage in the 2016 fiscal year.
He said: “It is clear that this supplementary budget that we have passed we have looked at both the request of the executive and particularly the sufferings of Nigerians to ensure that we see that this thing is done.
“At the same time we want to warn the ministries and agencies in charge of this expenditure to make sure that these funds are judiciously used.
“The oversight committees, particularly appropriation, downstream petroleum, anticorruption; we must expose with hope of sanction, any of these companies or agencies that take the opportunity because of the suffering of Nigerians to abuse this amount of money.
“This is a huge amount of money and I even believe that the so called huge subsidy is economic sabotage which must be unravelled ahead of the 2016 fiscal year. This is truly economic sabotage where billions of naira are being approved but not judiciously used; even our committee on anticorruption must play a role to oversee every single payment.
“This issue of fuel subsidy, I want us all, all Nigerians, we must say no to this blackmail by marketers, we must put an end to this issue.
“A lot of us in the past have spoken on this matter and I think we are doing this for the interest of Nigerians but I think it is high time we said no to this blackmail and end this hardship”.
Both the Senate Leader, Ali Ndume and Senate Minority Leader, Godswill Akpabio, had earlier in their submissions on the need for Senate to pass the budget, called for thorough investigations into the subsidy claims to save Nigeria from alleged yearly fleecing by marketers
The House of Representatives also yesterday, approved the supplementary budget. The budget was passed at plenary presided over by Speaker Yakubu Dogara.
The budget was passed after the adoption of the report of the joint committee on Appropriations, Finance and Aids, Loans and Debt Management.
The increase of N108.895bn according to the joint committee would enable Federal Government to pay for fuel subsidy for the October to December 2015 fiscal year.
The upward review of the supplementary budget was agreed on at a meeting with Ministries, Agencies and Departments (MDAs) on the 2015 Supplementary Budget held on Monday.
Breakdown of the budget showed that the sum of N10,618,837,435 is for outstanding payment of severance gratuity and allowances of outgone and incoming legislators and legislative aides; N3,196,089,405 is for salaries of Nigerian Army recruited personnel while N1.5 billion is for All African Games qualification for Rio 2016.
The sum of N29,958,865,512 is for Operation Zaman Lafiya, the sum of N17,468,992,640 is for Nigerian Army while N8,141,434,760 is for Nigerian Air Force.
The sum of N2 billion is proposed for margin increase in costs/recurrent adjustment while N5 billion is for Victim Support Funds under the capital supplementary.
Credit: National Mirror (Nigeria)
