the 2013 Appropriation Bill of N4.92 trillion as the aggregate
expenditure, and referred it to the Committee on Appropriation for
further legislative tinkering.
The Senator Ahmed Maccido-led committee was given three weeks to
report back to the general House on their findings and
recommendations.
After debating the performance of the 2012 budget and an in-depth
analysis of the 2013 Appropriation Bill, the Senate, however, blamed
the executive for poor implementation of the previous budget, just as
the lawmakers called for effective implementation of the 2013 budget.
Facts and figures on revenue earnings from oil
Meanwhile, Senate President David Mark, yesterday, told the committee
that time was ripe for Nigerians to know the true facts and figures on
revenue earnings from oil as well as ensure that what was released to
the Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, had cash backing.
He said: ''Revenue generation is extremely important because we can
continue to assume that we are producing so many barrels and that so
much has come in, but if we don't touch the heart of it to make sure
we are dealing with facts and figure, then we would be talking about
imaginary figures.
"I think the committee on finance should get to the root of that to
know how much we have realised at the end of the year and then we
would know how much has been utilised. It is one thing to say that so
much has been released to MDAs, but if they are not cash backed, then
that release is merely on paper.
While urging the Senators to ensure that they carry out an effective
oversight to assess the level of budget implementation, Mark said:
"Whatever we say about the budget, if we pass it and can implement
exactly what we passed faithfully, then, we would not have the
complaints that we have."
Earlier in his lead debate on the budget, Senate Leader, Senator
Victor Ndoma-Egba, PDP, Cross River Central, noted that there should
be slight change in the 2013 budget to accommodate the huge losses
recorded through flood in the country. He, however, argued that the
$75 oil benchmark set by the executive "is designed against the
backdrop of global economic uncertainty as the global economy is at a
very slow pace."
Source : information News