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2014 Budget Passes Second Reading In House

The 2014 Appropriation Bill has passed through the Second Reading in the House of Representatives after three days of debate. However on the final day … Continue reading 2014 Budget Passes Second Reading In House


The 2014 Appropriation Bill has passed through the Second Reading in the House of Representatives after three days of debate.

However on the final day of the debate, the contribution of the lawmakers became clearly divided along party lines.

While members of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) were determined in their defence of the budget, lawmakers of the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) picked holes in the bill.

The debate became more intense when the minority leader, Femi Gbajabiamila made his contribution.

According to him, “when you say a 23.7 percent capital budget will create jobs and provide inclusive growth, it is voodoo economics; when you allocate N700 billion (15 percent of your annual budget to debt service. How would N700 billion for debt and N1.1 trillion for capital projects claim to be a job-creating and inclusive growth budget?”

He said: “It is a lie when you bring a budget that has fiscal deficit of N912 billion (82 percent of N1.1 trillion capital expenditure and you call it a budget of job creation and inclusive growth! Almost every kobo for capital will be borrowed i.e. more debt.

Gbajabiamila maintained that it is strange that under the Ministry of Finance allocation, N924 billion Service Wide Vote, of which N21 billion is for election logistics outside the budget of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) itself.

The bill has been referred to the Committees on Appropriation and Finance.

These committees are expected to work with other committees of the House to address the concerns that have been identified.