It was a long drawn disagreement between Senators of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and their counterparts from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during Tuesday’s debate over the 2021 Appropriation Bill.
The stage was set when the Senate Leader, Yahaya Abdullahi (Kebbi North), opened the debate at the plenary.
President Muhammadu Buhari had on Thursday presented the budget tagged, “Budget of Recovery and Preservation” to a joint session of the National Assembly for consideration.
Disagreement sparked when Abdullahi said the Buhari administration had been the most economically jinxed in the history of the nation.
“It started with having to manage 40 – 50 % of the revenues accruing to previous administrations in spite of having larger and more intractable outlays of social, political, and economic responsibilities to attend to. The performance of this administration should therefore be objectively measured taking these issues into consideration,” he said.
But the Minority Leader, Enyinaya Abaribe, who faulted his claims, said the budget showed the government was insensitive to the plight of Nigerians.
He said, “The 2021 Appropriation Bill proposes to spend N13.082 trillion, with expected revenue of N7.886 trillion and a deficit of N5.196 trillion. As with the other budgets over the last few years, it looks impractical and unimplementable and continues a pattern of budgeting and spending that can only ultimately end in a bankrupt federal government at best, and a serious financial crisis at worst.
“The major challenge, as with previous budgets, is with revenue and an overly
optimistic revenue target. The 2021 budget hopes that the federal government will be able to generate almost eight trillion naira. If history is anything to go by, this projection looks impossible.
” This overly optimistic position is not new in Nigeria but is part of a continuing pattern of false optimism that has put the federal government’s accounts in the deep red and
the country in dire straits.
“If this is what we want to do, the budget is faulty. It is based on unrealistic projections.”
But the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, quickly interrupted, saying the budget is based on assumptions.
“This is what successive governments have been doing since 1999,” he said.
Maintaining his stance, Abaribe said, “It is right to assume rightly. Capital projects and debt are almost the same.”
Lawan again interrupted. He cited the 2014 budget in which he added, “capital project was only 15% even when the government of the day had so much money. ”
The Deputy Chief Whip, Sabi Abdullahi (Niger North), accused the opposition of playing to the gallery.
According to him, there is nothing wrong with government borrowing if the money will be invested in infrastructure.
Also Speaking, Senator Gabriel Suswam (PDP Benue Central), said the 774,000 public work proposed by the government for three months was not sustainable.
Instead, he advised the government to provide an enabling environment for a private organisation to provide employment.
A former Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, however, advised the federal government to be wary of borrowing from China.
He also advised the government to boost agriculture and make farming attractive to young men.
According to him, the Social Investment scheme had failed to solve unemployment in Nigeria.
Senator Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun Central), however, differed.
According to him, all the necessary building blocks needed for development are contained in the budget.
He added that the budget would address infrastructure gaps which would aid foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country.
