Reps pass N4.4trn Budget

Reps pass N4.4trn Budget

The House of Representatives on Thursday passed
the 2015 budget of N4.4 trillion with an appeal to
the incoming administration to submit
supplementary appropriation to boost capital
allocation for development and job creation.

Rep. John Enoh (PDP- Cross River), Chairman, House
Committee on Appropriation, said the supplementary
appropriation became necessary due to the near zero
vote for capital expenditure caused by the fall in oil
revenue.

He said that almost all the Ministries, Departments
and Agencies (MDAs), had zero allocation for capital
projects in the 2015 appropriation.

According to him, the development was “a perfect
recipe for abandonment of ongoing projects and
non-commencement of new ones.

“Having adjusted the benchmark to $53 and adopted
same by the conference Committee of both the
House and the Senate, we found that the proportion
between recurrent and capital was so bad.

“So, we plead with the Federal Government and by
extension, the incoming one, to reduce the gap
between recurrent and capital by increasing capital
votes using supplementary appropriation.

“However, the adjustment made does not make any
significant difference as the gap still remains highly
visible.

“It is our suggestion that Federal Government, as a
matter of urgency, proposes a supplementary
appropriation that aimes at boosting the capital
expenditure.

“This will be the basis for achieving projected
development drive and job creation.

“So, I urge my colleagues to support and help to pass
this budget,” Enoh said.

The budget, unanimously passed by members, has
N375.62 billion as statutory transfers, N953.62 billion
as debts service and N2.61 trillion for non-recurrent
expenditure.

More than N2trillion was allocated to MDAs. Federal
executive bodies under the Presidency were
allocated N13.96 billion for their recurrent
expenditure with little or nothing as capital
allocation.

The sum of N231 billion was allocated to Service-
Wide Votes among others.

The budget will be forwarded to the Senate for
harmonisation before presidential assent.