Senate to pass N4.357 trillion 2015 budget before general elections

The Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriation,
Sen. Ahmed Maccido, has expressed optimism that
the Senate would pass the N4.357 trillion 2015
Appropriation Bill before the general elections.

Maccido told newsmen on Sunday in Abuja that the
Senate had set a two-week deadline to pass the
budget.

He said that the Senate decided to peg the oil
benchmark at 52 dollars per barrel in view of the
dwindling oil price, preparatory to the passage of
the Bill.

He added that the Senate took the initiative as
against 65 dollars per barrel as proposed by the
Executive in the Medium Term Expenditure
Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper
(FSP).

He explained that “we always have pre-budget
meetings; the legislature and the executive. We
have been having these series of meetings even
before the budget was brought to us.

“This is a forum where we iron out certain issues
which could hinder the passage of the budget.

“We had a meeting where certain parameters were
agreed upon but this particular one, I assure you,
we didn’t agree on the 65 dollars per barrel of oil
proposed by the executive.

“This is purely the initiative of the Senate, having
seen how the economy is going and we believe that
the 52-dollar oil benchmark is the most realistic for
the 2015 budget.

“Nigeria is not broke, we are expecting the passage
of the 2015 budget as soon as in the next two
weeks,” he said.

Speaking on implementation of projects before the
expiration of the present administration, Maccido
said the National Assembly was more concerned
with completion of ongoing capital projects than
initiating new ones.

He said the National Assembly always emphasised
on completion of projects rather than embarking on
new ones.

He added that “considering the shortage in
revenues, I believe the executive finds it expedient
not to begin new capital expenditure but to
complete ongoing ones.

“We have been asking the executive to initiate
meaningful projects and try as much as possible to
avoid bringing up new ones except if absolutely
necessary.”

NAN reports that Ministries, Departments and
Agencies (MDAs) have commenced budget defence
before relevant standing committees of the Senate.
The budget defence was preparatory to the
passage of the 2015 Appropriation Bill.