Chat212 - Mail Summary...
- Today presentation of 2014 budget by Mr President has been postponed till next Tuesday.
- Mr. Leo Ogor, said, “Issues bearing on the MTEF,” were partly responsible for the decision.
- And It was also learnt that though Jonathan had long submitted the MTEF and the FSP to the legislature, they had not been approved.
Chat212 News Mail... Report
TODAY’s scheduled visit of President Goodluck Jonathan to the National Assembly to present the estimates of the 2014 budget has been postponed till next Tuesday.
The Clerk of the National Assembly, Salisu Maikasuwa, made this known while dismissing claims that a directive to all National Assembly members of staff on Grade Level 01 to 14 to stay away from duty till 2pm today was not unconnected with a planned protest by the workers.
Maikasuwa added that it was an annual ritual for the members of staff of the National Assembly to be away from duty whenever the President was to address the lawmakers.
He said, “This is an annual ritual. If the President is coming, only staff who have duties to perform in the chambers are allowed to come to work in the morning hours.
“Banks too are affected.
“But, since Mr. President is now rescheduled to come on Tuesday next week, the directive has been overtaken by events.”
however showed that Jonathan and the leadership of the National Assembly agreed to postpone the presentation on Tuesday (today) at a meeting they held at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, Abuja on Sunday night.
Findings indicated that the Senate President, David Mark; the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Aminu Tambuwal; the Deputy Senate President, Mr. Ike Ekweremadu; and the Deputy Speaker of the House, Mr. Emeka Ihedioha, met with the President to reschedule the visit.
The meeting reportedly took place shortly after the reception Jonathan organised for the victorious U-17 Golden Eaglets ended.
“The four principal officers came to meet with the President. Mark drove into the Villa and led the others.
It was gathered that a key reason for the cancellation was the 2013-2015 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper, which had not been approved by the National Assembly.
The approval of the MTEF and FSP must precede every new budget in compliance with the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007.
It was learnt that though Jonathan had long submitted the MTEF and the FSP to the legislature, they had not been approved.
Members of the House of Representatives had resolved in October not to touch the MTEF or the 2014 budget until they had done an assessment of the level of performance of the 2013 budget.
A member of the House said, “This assessment is ongoing and the House has yet to finalise it.
“Standing committees went on oversight to capital project sites, but some of them have yet to lay their reports before the House.
“The House has to look at these reports to form the basis of considering the MTEF for approval and by extension, the visit of Mr. President.”
Findings showed that the House had earlier referred the MTEF to its Joint Committees on Appropriation and Finance for advice.
“Till date, the report on MTEF is not ready. So, if the MTEF is not approved yet, how feasible is it to receive Jonathan”, the lawmaker asked.
In a circular, the Director, Personnel Management, National Assembly, Dr. Ishaya Sarki, gave no reason for the postponement.
When contacted, the Deputy House Leader, Mr. Leo Ogor, said, “Issues bearing on the MTEF,” were partly responsible for the decision.
He said, “There is no point rushing anything; what is worth doing is worth doing well.
“It has to do with the passage of the MTEF; this has to do with figures and we must get everything right instead of rushing.
“We are still waiting for the report of the committee, when we get it and we pass the MTEF, the President can come.
“This will not take longer than next week or let me say, this week at the most.
“We appeal to Nigerians and everyone to be patient with us.”
However, another source claimed that there was an unresolved dispute between Jonathan and the National Assembly over the proposed crude oil benchmark of the 2014 budget, which was $74.
The source stated that the aim of the meeting between the National Assembly leadership and the President was to agree on the “appropriate benchmark” for the budget to avoid any “unnecessary delay of the budget that may crop up later.”
The oil benchmark for the 2013 budget (N4.9tn) was originally $75 per barrel of crude.
However, in considering the budget, the House passed $80 as benchmark, while the Senate passed $78.
Both chambers later harmonised on $79, a figure that later became the source of a protracted budget feud between Jonathan and the National Assembly before he signed it on February 27.
Our source added. “ The meeting also looked at the benchmark. It was a way of advising the President to consider the possibility of raising the benchmark to avoid the type of long delay that was experienced in the case of the 2013 budget.”
