Copies of MTEF, FSP not yet circulated to members, 4 days to presentation of 2018 budget 

There was a mild protest on the floor of the House of Representatives when President Muhammadu Buhari’s letter to lay the 2018 budget estimate was read on the floor of the House. The agitation was in response to the crisis trailing the assault against the leadership of the Senate and House of Representatives who were invited by the Presidency to a dinner.

Normalcy, however, returns as Speaker Yakubu Dogara pacified the aggrieved lawmakers, adding that the President is constitutionally empowered to lay the budget before the joint session of National Assembly.”I wish we have the constitutional right to say no, but unfortunately, we don’t have it. This House is the custodian of the constitution. The president has the right,” the Speaker noted.

In a related development, a cross-section of members of the House of Representatives has expressed displeasure over the non-distribution of copies of the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP), barely a week after the transmission of the document to the National Assembly.BusinessDay gathered that the MTEF/FSP documents are yet to be made available to all the members including the principal officers.

Some of the lawmakers who reacted to the development including Dan Archibong (PDP-Akwa Ibom) emphasized the need to prioritize debate on the MTEF/FSP ahead of the presentation of the 2018 budget proposal.

The lawmaker who frowned at the abysmal low implementation of the capital component of the 2017 Appropriation Act, which stood at 8%, stressed the need to urgently address the challenges hampering Nigeria’s budgeting system.

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On his part, Adeyinka Ajayi, chairman, House Committee on Aids, Loans and Debt Management, queried the failure of the Executive to honour the October deadline for submission of the 2018 budget estimate.

While speaking during the post-weekly Legislative activities, Abdulrazak Namdas, Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs assured that the House will prioritize the passage of 2018-2020 MTEF/FSP.

He said: “The President has the right to come and lay the budget and with all due respect, we will also accept and receive this budget. However, there’s no way the Legislature can pass the budget without actually passing the MTEF.

“So when we receive the budget, then we will now start the job properly. But the thing is I cannot tell you whether we will pass the budget in January or so because they promised to bring the budget in October, but it is coming in November.”Though it was an improvement as against last year’s budget I can tell you that we will work hard and see that the budget is actually passed in good time.

“It also depends on the level of work before us. You know the processes. It’s not a one-man affair, that we will stand here and say it can be passed on so so so date.”While responding to question on the level of implementation of the 2017 budge, the Adamawa lawmaker admitted that there is a need for the Executive to increase releases for capital component of the 2017 budget.

 

KEHINDE AKINTOLA, Abuja