SUNDAY ABORISADE and LEKE BAIYEWU
President Muhammadu
Buhari may be in for another showdown with members of the National
Assembly on resumption of plenary in January if the executive fails to
release funds appropriated to the federal parliament in the 2018 budget.
Some
of the federal lawmakers, who spoke with our correspondents on Friday,
alleged that the executive arm of government had withheld their money as
a form of punishment.
The National Assembly increased its budget from N125bn allocated to it in 2017 to N139bn in 2018.
They,
however, said rather than implement the N139bn allocated to them in
2018, the executive was still paying them based on the N125bn
appropriated for them in the 2017 national budget.
The
development worsened penultimate week, forcing the House of
Representatives to summon the Minister of Finance, Aisha Mohammed, to
explain the delay in the release of the funds, categorised as first-line
charge.
But the minister attributed the non-implementation of
the 2018 National Assembly budget to a gross revenue shortfall recorded
by the Federal Government in the current fiscal year.
Obviously
not satisfied with the minister’s explanation, the representatives
demanded immediate full payment of the monthly release to the assembly
put at N11bn monthly.
They lamented that the executive was still
releasing N10bn monthly to the federal parliament based on the 2017
appropriation despite the fact that the 2018 national budget was
assented to in June this year.
The Deputy Speaker, House of
Representatives, Lasun Yusuf, said, “Clearly, the Appropriation Act has
been breached; the law has been breached. Each month, the National
Assembly receives money less by N1.2bn.”
A member of the House of
Representatives from Ondo State, who spoke with one of our
correspondents on condition of anonymity, said his colleagues booed the
President while presenting the 2019 budget proposal last week to show
their grievances.
He said, “We will show him (Buhari) our true
colours in January if he fails to release our money in full. He is
deliberately treating us like this to ensure that we have nothing to
mobilise our constituents for the February 16 elections.
“The
Buhari government has also failed to fund our constituency projects,
thereby depriving us of the opportunity to count them as part of our
achievements.”
Another member from Oyo State, who also spoke on
condition of anonymity, confirmed that his colleagues were warming up
for a showdown with the President, if he failed to fund their budget in
full.
He stated, “That is exactly why we booed him when he came
for the budget presentation and he should expect more in the New Year.
As it is now, we cannot meet our obligations to our constituents, staff
and National Assembly maintenance.”
According to investigations
by our correspondents, based on the new arrangement, a senator now goes
home with N11m as monthly running cost while their counterparts in the
House collect N8m.
A senator from the North-West confirmed off
record that the National Assembly budget was not being properly funded,
adding that the development was affecting their financial obligations.
The
senator, representing Kaduna Central, Shehu Sani, in March, revealed
that he and his colleagues received N13.5m monthly as “running cost.”
He said the amount did not include a N700,000 monthly consolidated salary and allowances, which they also received.
A
legislative source, also in March this year, confided in SUNDAY PUNCH
that because of their high number (360), members of the House received
slightly lower amount for the running cost than senators.
The
source had said, “For the money to go round, the Reps usually take lower
than senators. Depending on the flow of allocation into the account of
the National Assembly, the running cost for members is between N9.3m and
N12m. There are times though when what is available is N8m.”
The
senator representing Zamfara Central Senatorial District, Kabir Marafa,
said some of his colleagues actually complained about the inadequate
funding of their constituency projects when President Buhari was
presenting the budget.
He, however, directed one of our
correspondents to the Committee on Senate Services to know the
implementation of the National Assembly budgets.
Attempts to
speak with the Chairman, Committee on Senate Services, Ibrahim Gobir,
failed as calls made to his mobile did not connect and he had yet to
respond to a text message sent to his telephone as of the time of filing
this report.
The Deputy Majority Leader of the House, Mr Idris
Wase, who admitted that the legislature was underfunded, said it was due
to revenue shortfall recorded by the Federal Government.
Wase
said, “Yes, there was an increase in the budget to take care of other
issues regarding the funding of the welfare of workers and
infrastructural needs of the institution.
Source:- Punchng
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