2013 Budget: National Assembly promises showdown with Jonathan

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President Goodluck Jonathan on Wednesday presented the 2013 budget with an estimate of N4.92 trillion to a joint assembly of the National Assembly, but the legislators did not mince their words in drawing the battle line ahead of approving the Appropriation Bill.
Welcoming the president, the Senate President, Senator David Mark, stated that Nigeria must strive to make its economy conform to global best practices.
Senator Mark threw the first shot at the executive, hinting that the 2013 budget may not be approved without inputs by federal lawmakers, as he warned that figures in the budget were “mere estimates, not immutable figures”.
“We do not think that the constitution intended to turn the National Assembly into a mere mechanical rubber-stamp that must robotically pass budget estimates as presented” said the Senate President.
The 2013 budget which is estimated at N4.92 trillion represents an increase of about 5% over the N4.7 trillion appropriated for 2012.
The budget presentation revealed that the sum of N2.41 trillion is proposed for recurrent expenditure and N1.54 trillion for capital expenditure.
The budget saw the fiscal deficit coming down to 2.17 per cent of GDP, from previous 2.85 per cent, assuming the economy grows at 6.5 per cent, the president said, which is a lower projection than this year’s expected 6.85 per cent growth.
President Jonathan said based on a well-established econometric methodology of estimating oil price moving averages, the benchmark oil price of $75 per barrel, as provided in the Middle Term Expenditure Framework with a reduction in the recurrent expenditure and increase in the capital expenditure with an expected oil production estimate of 2.53 million barrels per day.
Dr Jonathan also noted that the 2013 budget will continue to build on the four pillars of macro-economic stability, structural reforms, governance , institutions and investing in priority sectors.
The president, who was accompanied by members of the Federal Executive Council, stated that the budget is expected to continue with government’s focus on fiscal consolidation with inclusive growth.
Unimpressed Tambuwal
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Honourable Aminu Tambuwal, presenting a vote of thanks, pointed out that the implementation of the 2012 budget as verified by committees of the house is unimpressive.
He also explained that contrary to the oil bench mark of $75 which the budget is based on by the executive, the house has taken a decision to increase the crude oil benchmark price to $80 and this was welcomed with a loud cheer by the lawmakers.
He also called on the president to look into the ill treatment resolutions of the House receive from the executives and the unguarded utterances of some members of his cabinet.
“I am compelled however to state that the National Assembly is becoming increasingly concerned about the disregard for its resolutions and public comments by certain functionaries of the Executive on same. I cite the Senate Resolution on the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), the House Resolution on the state of insecurity of the nation, requesting Mr. President to visit and brief the House, the House of Representatives Resolution on the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), the concurrent Resolution of the two Chambers on Bakassi among others. This does not promote cordial relationship between the Executive and Legislature and consequently stability in the polity”.
When approved, the implementation of the budget will commence from January 1, 2013 against past practices where implementations spilled into months of the year in view said Jonathan.
President Jonathan had in his speech, urged legislators to accept a tight budget because of on-going uncertainty over oil prices.
“This threat of oil price volatility remains constant and forces us to rely on a prudent methodology when calculating the benchmark price,” he said, adding that “these are uncertain times in the world economy. We’ve taken necessary steps to mitigate possible negative effects … of a global recession.”
The 2013 budget is now in the hands of the national assembly for lawmakers to make input and send back to the executive.
Lawmakers left the 2012 budget largely unchanged so all eyes would now be on the legislature to see what kind of inputs they would be making in the 2013 budget.
Below is a breakdown of the 2013 budget:
POWER – N74.26 BILLION
EDUCATION – N426.53 BILLION
HEALTH – N279.23 BILLION
DEFENCE – N348.91 BILLION
POLICE – N319.65 BILLION
AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT – N81.41 BILLION