Senators must consider budget in national interest —Mark January 29, 2014 | Filed under: News Update | Posted by: Administrator SENATE President, Senator David Mark, on Tuesday, said senators must view the Nigerian budget with a nationalistic view, adding that the time had come for lawmakers to use nationalistic periscope in viewing the budget. Mark said this at the commencement of the consideration of the general principles of the 2014 budget, adding that there is the need to use national magnifying glass in looking at the budget. “I want to urge distinguished colleagues to see the budget from a nationalistic periscope, using a national magnifying glass to view it, instead of reducing it to partisan politics,” he said. Senate Leader, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, who led the debate on the budget, said 2014 budget concentrated on completion of existing projects. He called for equity in the distribution of Subsidy Re-Investment Programme (SURE-P), while also lamenting what he called the dwindling allocation to the judiciary since 2011. Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, told his colleagues that the budget was the most important document before the Senate, adding that the executive must do everything to implement it appropriately once it was passed by the National Assembly. He stated that the parliament would not want any project to be abandoned, adding the Senate committees must ensure that monies voted for continuation or completion of projects were properly utilised. Senate Minority Leader, Senator George Akume, said the budget represented the engine room of growth and development in the economy, while he, however, lamented that the executive did not ensure relevance of meaningful contributions by lawmakers. Chairman, Senate Committee on Public Accounts, Senator Ahmed Lawan, described the budget as skewed against the wishes of the masses, addding that the people of the North-East were unhappy about the allocation of only N2 billion as development initiative. He described the budget as the worst deal for Nigerians, but was shouted down by PDP senators, who objected to the use of words. Senator Mark, however, warned his colleagues to ensure that every lawmaker made his or her contributions without interference. Senator Lawan took a swipe at the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, adding that she had failed to live up to expectations. He lamented that whereas the amnesty programme and money voted for the reintegration of ex-militants gulped N59 billion, the entire Armed Forces and the Ministry of Defence got a paltry N34 billion. He also rejected the N2billion proposed in the budget for the North East Development Initiative, adding that the figures did not add up, as the Niger Delta Development Commission and the Ministry of Niger Delta got N 61 billion and N41 billion respectively. Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe, however, stunned the senators when he said the Senate needed to copy something good the All Progressives Congress (APC) had done. According to him, the APC government in Rivers passed a budget in one hour, adding that the Senate should do the same and pass the budget expeditiously. Abaribe’s comments drew wild applause from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senators, as some of them went to shake his hands after his speech. Senator Mark, reacting, said Senator Abaribe had given an example of how fast “we should pass this budget. We don’t need to continue to debate this budget.” ‘Why we defied APC’s directive’ Details emerged on Tuesday as to why senators of APC defied the directive given by the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the party to block the passage of the budget and all executive bills. Sources in the National Assembly told the Nigerian Tribune that the majority of senators of the APC were of the view that they could not mix legislative work with partisan politics. It was also confirmed that many of the senators felt that blocking the passage of the budget would have more telling effects on the nation more than whatever the party was trying to correct in Rivers State. One of the senators who spoke in confidence said the nation’s democracy was too fragile to be subjected to the type of test which the APC was calling for. According to the lawmaker, the democracy practiced in the United States had enough cushion which the Nigerian democracy lacked. “The Nigerian state is far too fragile to play politics with. Though we were elected into the chambers on the basis of party, we must put Nigeria first in all we do. “We must always take note of the issues that affect the people at large and those that are party matters. As for me, I am prepared to defend my position before any Assembly of the party and answer any query on my action,” a senator said. Another lawmaker said senators and members of the House would not allow sectional or partisan issues to becloud national interest they swore to defend, adding that once they entered the chambers, they always put Nigeria first. “When we looked at the order, majority of us felt that it would conflict with the oath of office and oath of allegiance that we swore to uphold and we believe that Nigeria must come first. “We are not defying our party and we respect our leaders, but when it concerns Nigeria, we have to abide by the oaths we have individually sworn to uphold,” one of the lawmakers said.
Posted on: Wed, 29 Jan 2014 15:23:45 +0000
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