The Senate has refused to approve a budget proposal covering 52 federal agencies and parastatals, saying it will amount to double counting since the agencies have already been captured in the N4.695trillion national budget.
The senate took the decision on Thursday, saying it would prefer to work on the elements not yet captured in the 2014 budget.
When the proposal was read by the representative of Senate Leader Victor Ndoma Egba (SAN), Abdul Ningi, the deputy leader for consideration; senators and chairmen of various committees expressed surprise, arguing that apart from the Central Bank of Nigeria, management of all the agencies listed for fresh appropriation had already appeared before standing committees to defend the budget estimates.
The senators said the only thing left about the already presented budget was for President Goodluck Jonathan, to sign it before implementation commences.
The Vice chairman, Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions, Senator Isa Galaudu observed that the presentation of the budget proposal is belated, saying senators should find out how the document found its way into the chamber.
Senator Aisha Jummai Al-Hassan, also said that the House has already passed the 2014 budget and the new proposal can only serve as a supplementary budget. Al-Hassan asked the House if it passed the element in the new proposal with the main budget, noting that if the House had failed to consider it then, it cannot do that again.
Speaking under Order 26 (6) of the Senate Standing Orders (2011, as amended), Senate Spokesman, Enyinnaya Abaribe, convinced the House that the Senate has dealt with the matter of 2014 budget and that there is no need to go back to it again.
Senate President, Senator David Mark responded by explaining that the problem with the proposal was that the Committee on Rules and Business should have expunged some agencies that had been treated earlier from the list.
Mark thus asked Chairman, Rules and Business, Senator Ita Enang to clear the air on the budgets.
Enang replied that the document was from the Budget Office of the Federation of the Federal Ministry of Finance, promising that he has not tampered with it.
“It was produced and given to the Appropriation Committee. This copy was gotten from the Appropriation Committee and circulated, in compliance with section 21 of the Fiscal Responsibility Act,” Enang said.
According to the proposal document, Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) will spend N450bn on capital expenditure, while the Nigeria Ports Authority proposed N144.9bn, Security and Exchange Commission, N15.6bn and the Nigerian Maritime Safety Administration proposed a budget of N86bn for the year.