Reps Direct Committee To Produce Report On 2012 Budget Implementation

In a bid to ensure that the 2012 budget is fully implemented, the House of Representatives on Tuesday mandated a joint committee of the house to study the implementation so far and recommend ways to ensure its full implementations.

The report, according to the lawmakers, is aimed at ensuring the full implementation of the budget.

The committee is expected to submit the report to the House within one week.

The resolution is sequel to a motion moved by Abdulrahman Terab (ANPP-Borno) which was unanimously adopted.

Leading the debate, Mr Terab noted that annual budgets were meant to provide for the planning and equitable allocation of resources for purposes of development.

He said that the national budget, if well formulated and effectively implemented, would lead to the achievement of development objectives of the country.

The lawmaker disclosed that Nigeria had infrastructural deficit of over N4 trillion and a very high unemployment rate of over 70 per cent.
He said that the revenue receipts so far for 2012 was higher than what was projected for in the 2012 fiscal regime.

Mr Terab also described the fourth quarter capital releases to Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in December as inadequate.
He claimed that only about 30 per cent of money appropriated was actually remitted to the MDAs.

He said that money saved from recoveries, non-oil, unspent revenues and fake subsidy claims were not captured in the 2013 budget estimates.

“If this House does not come to the rescue of the 2012 budget, the dream of Nigeria becoming one of the 20 great economies by the year 2020 can no longer be achievable,” he said.

The Chairman of the House of Representatives’ committee on finance, Abdulmumin Jibrin (PDP-Kano) said that out of the 60 revenue generating agencies of government, only one remitted up to 50 percent to the Federation Account.

He called on relevant committees of the House to investigate the role of the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) in the area of budgeting.
He told the House that 15 agencies were absent from the meeting with the committee.

The chairman, committee on Appropriation, John Enoh (PDP-Cross River), urged the House to ensure a conclusive implementation of the 2012 budget.
Mr Enoh noted that unless the House was careful, the budget would witness more abandoned projects than the previous years.

“Given the problem that characterised the 2012 budget, we need to examine the 2013 budget,” he said.