2017 Budget: Senate Summons Finance, Budget Ministers
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, as well as Minister of Budget and National Planning, Mr Udo Udoma, have been summoned by the Nigerian Senate.
At the plenary on Tuesday, a Senator from Lagos State, Mr Gbenga Ashafa, warned that inadequate releases from the Federal government to Ministries, Departments and Agencies to finance their capital projects might return the country to recession.
The lawmaker, in his motion titled captioned ‘Inadequate releases in the 2017 budget and the need to expedite releases in order to stimulate the Economy,’ observed that “while the total size of the 2017 budget tagged as the budget of Economic Recovery and Growth is in the sum of N7.44 trillion, the capital component of the budget is in the sum of N2.18 trillion for the year ending December 31, 2017, according to the Appropriation Act of 2017.”
However, he expressed concern that since the 2017 budget was assented to by the President in June 2017, only about N310 billion has been released by the Federal Government to Ministries, Departments and Agencies as funding for capital projects. The figure, according to the Senator, is too low to stimulate the economy.
As he concluded, Mr Ashafa reiterated the fact that “the livelihood of millions of Nigerians is directly connected with the funding of the budget and execution of projects.
“Considering that the more projects are executed, the more Nigerians would be engaged at various levels of the employment value chain.”
Deputy Senate President, Mr Ike Ekweremadu, while seconding the motion, commended his colleague on the motion and urged his colleagues to support the motion.
Consequently, the Senate resolved to invite the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Budget and National Planning to appear before the Senate in plenary to brief the Senate on reasons for the inadequate releases, in accordance to the prayers of the said motion.