By Gloria Ikibah
The House Representatives has called on the Executive to submit the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) to the National Assembly to enable the transmission of the 2025 Appropriation bill by the President for speedy passage of the budget.
This was sequel to the the adoption of a motion of urgent public importance moved by Rep. Clement Jumbo on the “Need to Urge the Executive to Comply With Section 11(1)(b) of Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007”, on Wednesday at plenary.
Naijablitznews.com recalled that the Senate and House received the 2024-2026 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) from President Bola Tinubu, on Tuesday, October 31, 2023.
Recall further that President Tinubu in a Joint Session of the Senate and House of Representatives on Wednesday, 29 November 2023, also presented the sum of N27.5 trillion as the proposed 2024 Budget.
The lawmakers express worried that the time frame to go through the budget and it’s passage was rushed and did not give them enough time, giving the January to December budget cycle promised by the current administration.
Debating the motion Rep. Jumbo noted that the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007 provides for the prudent management of the nation’s resources, ensures long term macroeconomic stability of the national economy, secures greater accountability and transparency in fiscal operations within a medium- term fiscal policy framework and the establishment of the Fiscal Responsibility Commission to ensure the promotion and enforcement of the nation’s economic objectives and for related matters.
The motion reads: “Further notes that section 11(1)(b) stipulates that the federal government must, not later than four months before the commencement of the next financial year, cause to be prepared and laid before the National Assembly an MTEF for the next three financial years.
“Worried that section 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution as well as section 30(1) of FRA 2007, specifically, section 88(1) stipulates that subject to other provisions of the 1999 Constitution, each house of the National Assembly shall have the power, by passing resolutions, to direct, or cause to be directed, an investigation into any matter or thing with respect to which it has power to make laws, and into the conduct of affairs of any person, authority, ministry of government department charged or intended to be charged with the duty of or responsibility for executing of administrating laws enacted by the national assembly and for disbursing or administrating monies appropriated or to be appropriated by the National Assembly.
“Further worried that the time the National Assembly requires to exercise its functions as enshrined in section 88(2)(b) is technically being taken away by the non-compliance of section 11(1)(b) of FRA 2007 by Executive”.
Contributing to the motion lawmaker spoke in support of the motion saidnthe time stipulated in the Act should be complied with to enable the legislature carry out its oversight functions among others.
In his contribution, Billy Osawaru (APC, Edo State) said: “The timely late arrival of annual budget proposals, is one of the ways Ministries, Departments and Agencies of Government shortchange Nigerians.
“If it takes four months to go through budget estimates, it should be four months.”
Also throwing his weight behind this motion was the Minority Leader, Rep. Kingsley Chinda, who said it was a wake up call for the government.
He said: “I believe as well this morning is to wake the present government from their slumber. The last budget like we rightly noted, we were almost rushed. In fact, we were rushed into concluding that budget.
“And that is what we want to avoid happening again this year. We can also say that the government perhaps no longer want to tolerate that situation where the budget, which is very important, in fact, the most important law that will be passed by this Assembly as it has to do with the Nations, will be brought and each of us will be restricted to conclude and pass that same budget.
“We want to comply with what we have agreed that there must be a certain period for the budget to run, that is January to December. I would therefore call on this House to please support this motion, regardless of party line, regardless of religion, this motion is in the interest of this country and is in our collective interest that this will be done and done right. We are going into the end of the quarter of this year. We expect that by now the MTEF would have been with us so that we can take it slowly.
“This motion is a clarion call. It is a good call. It is one that has our support”.
The House unanimously adopted the motion and mandated its on Committees on National Planning and Economic Development, Appropriation and Finance to ensure compliance within 2 weeks.