The summon is over the insertion of N206 billion inserted into the 2023 budget of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development.

Chairman of the committee, Yusuf Yusuf, announced the summon when Sadiya Farouq, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development appeared before the committee for defence of the ministry’s 2023 budget on Monday.

A member of the committee, Ishaku Abbo, had asked Farouq about N206 billion in the budget that the minister intended to borrow.

“In 2023, you intend to borrow N206 billion for a project. What are the projects to be implemented and is it captured in the Medium Term Expenditure Framework.

“If it is, what are the specific projects location and activities attached to this.”

In her response, the minister said: “Yes, we made mention of the projects for 2022 which was not released and part of it was part for the North East Development Commission, NEDC.

“The money was not released and now we have seen it recurring by almost 10 folds.

READ ALSO: Fuel subsidy to go by June 2023, says finance minister

“We are also going to clarify from the ministry of finance to know why this increase in spite of the fact that the previous year, the money was not even released for the project.

“So we will get the details then send to you on that.

“On upscaling of the National Social Safety-Net Project, NSSNP; these projects under the National Social Safety-Net, the Condition Cash Transfer, the updating of the National Social Register and the Rapid Response Register, RRR, are to cushion the effect of inflation.

“This is all I can say for this. I cannot really give full details of how this amount is going to be utilised because it is something that was negotiated between the ministry of finance and World Bank.”

The chairman of the committee, therefore, approved the motion to summon the minister of finance to appear before the committee to give explanation about the N206 billion.

Source: NAN

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The meeting which had in attendance principal officers from both chambers, was presided over by the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila.

The Senate President, in his welcome address told the Executive arm of Government to ensure that the interest of Nigerians remained protected in the proposed cut to the 2020 national budget.

Lawan also expressed the willingness of the federal lawmakers to expeditiously consider the proposed amendment to the 2020 budget which the minister said would be presented to the National Assembly by next week.

“The budget amendment is very important, but I believe that when we are faced with this kind of challenge (COVID-19 pandemic), it is an emergency and we should do everything and anything possible to fast track the passage and implementation of the government intervention that is so critical and crucial at this stage.

“I believe that we shouldn’t delay it any longer. Next week, and I will suggest the early part of next week, we should have that document (MTEF) ready so that we can consider it alongside the budget. It is supposed to be the tonic of what Nigerians are waiting for.

“We have listened to the various adjustments you have made to avoid going into recession. However, to avoid going into a deeper recession, I think we need to do a little bit much more.

“After this meeting with the leadership, I suggest that you engage with our relevant committees in the Senate and House of Representatives to look at the nitty gritty that would be considered more in detail at the presentation level.

“On the whole, let me assure you that the National Assembly and Executive arm are on the same page, and that is to say that we will work to ensure that we have a budget 2020 amendment that will address the needs of the people of this country.

“One thing is that the net public expenditure must be targeted at net maximum performance for the benefit of the people of this country.

“In other words, we must come up with an amended budget that is operable and favorable to Nigerians,” Lawan said.

In his remarks, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, called on the Federal Government to adopt a feasible benchmark in the proposed amendment to the 2020 budget.

“The benchmark is so critical and so important, because once you pass the law, it becomes difficult to adjust that benchmark, and then what happens to the excess?

“We have always had problems with the Excess Crude Account, potentially an account which has no backing of the law. So, let’s even assume that the price remains static at $35, that means we have $10 going to the Excess Crude Account which we have no control over in terms of spending, that is why we guard that benchmark price very jealously.

“Is there a possibility of having a proviso built in in the budget…So that there can be an automatic kick in if the benchmark price goes beyond $26 or $27. We want you to explore that possibility.

“So, I think you should study the market and see what happens next week by the time you present the adjusted budget,” Gbajabiamila said.

Speaking on Nigeria’s debt profile, the Speaker said, “I would also want to address the issue of our deficit and tie it with the issue of debt relief. I’m not sure I heard any presentation on how much we owe and how much we are paying back in this budget.

“The reason I asked is that at the moment, I believe, for want of a better word, some of our creditors are very vulnerable right now. And depending on how you package your case, I believe they should be the ones coming to beg you to take debt relief, if not outright cancellation.”

Earlier, the Minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, while briefing the leadership of the National Assembly said, “the US$57 crude oil price benchmark approved in the 2020 budget is no longer sustainable.”

The minister said further that: “It is necessary to reallocate resources in the 2020 budget, to ensure the effective implementation of required emergency measures, and mitigate the negative socioeconomic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Ahmed stated that in line with the global economic outlook and relevant domestic considerations, the assumptions underpinning the 2020-2022 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and the 2020 Budget was revised to slash crude oil benchmark price from US$57 per barrel to US$25 per barrel; reduce crude oil production benchmark from 2.18 million barrels per day to 1.9 mbpd.

She added that the federal government also adjusted the budget exchange rate to N360/US$1; and reduced the upfront fiscal deductions by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for mandated Oil and Gas sector expenditures by 65 percent from N1.223 trillion to N424 billion.

She disclosed that the amount available for funding the 2020 Budget is now estimated at N5.548 trillion, down from N8.419 trillion, a revised revenue estimate which is 34 percent (N2.87 trillion) lower than what was initially approved.

Federal Government’s aggregate expenditure budget was slashed by N88.412 billion; Statutory Transfer from N560.47 billion to N397.87 billion; and Overhead costs of Ministries, Departments and Agencies of Government from N302.43 billion to N240.91 billion.

Debt Service provision was, however, increased from N2.453 trillion to N2.678 trillion.

On Provision of N500 billion for COVID-19 Intervention Fund, the Finance Minister in her presentation explained that N263.63 billion will be sourced from Federal Government Special Accounts, N186.37 billion from Federation Special Accounts and the balance of N50 billion expected as grants and donations.

According to her, “the sum of N186.37 billion will be applied toward COVID-19 interventions across the federation, while an additional N213.60 billion was provided in the Service Wide Votes for COVID-19 Crisis Intervention recurrent expenditures.”

She disclosed that while a total of N100.03 billion was provisioned in the Intervention Fund for new capital spending, the Federal Government carried out a cut in capital expenditures for Ministries, Departments and Agencies of Government from N1.564 trillion to N1.262 trillion.

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Lawan made the call for the release on Wednesday when the leadership of the Senate undertook a tour of solation centres located at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital, Gwagwalada.

The Senate president, while speaking to journalists after an inspection of two facilities, bemoaned the lack of preparedness and expressed frustration at the state of the isolation centres which were yet to be completed.

Speaking on the findings of the Senate leadership, Lawan said, “First of all, let me say that the representatives of the Federal Ministry of Health, the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, and the management of the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital are in high spirit, looking determined to discharge their mandates and obligations.

“But from our inspection here, the temporary isolation centre is really not in good shape, it doesn’t look ready to receive any patient, and I believe that this is something that we need to fix between now and tomorrow.

“We are in an emergency, even if we don’t have people who are affected, we shouldn’t just rest on our oars. We have to do everything and anything possible to fix that temporary isolation centre to be prepared to receive anyone who falls sick in this respect.

“I am sad, we are indeed actually sad, that of the N620 million that was supposed to be released to this place for fixing of everything here to NCDC, not a kobo has been released.

“We are going to get across to the Minister of Finance and all the other authorities that have anything to do with this to release this money latest between today and tomorrow.”

The Senate President, further lamented that Nigeria, despite being a country with the largest economy in Africa, is yet to have a completed isolation centre in any of the geo-political zones that would provide emergency response to disease outbreak in the country.

He charged those saddled with leadership responsibilities in the country to live up to expectations through timely discharge of their mandates and duties.

“There’s no way that Nigeria, the largest economy in Africa, with a population of two hundred million, and yet the Federal Capital and six surrounding states of the North Central, you don’t have one room that you can call an isolation centre, where anyone who unfortunately falls into this crisis will be taken to. This is not acceptable.

“So, we are going to ensure that the money is released, we are not going to put pressure. This is what they are supposed to do, and they must do it.

“I also believe that we should have a replication of the permanent site, we should be able to complete this and then have five others across the remaining geo-political zones of the country.

“Let’s spend money for our people, we waste money for some things that are less important. This is about the health and lives of the people of this country, and therefore, no investment is too much.

“So, we should be prepared at all times. We had Ebola, SARS, now we have Coronavirus, we do not know what else will come, but we should be prepared and ready for any eventuality, and no investment is too much.

“The contractor said by the end of this month this should be ready, we pray it should be faster, but by the end of tomorrow, that temporary site must be ready.

“There’s no generator, no electricity, nothing. There were two or three air conditioners brought this morning, maybe because yesterday we said we were coming here. This is not acceptable.

“As leaders given responsibilities, we have to do what is right. This is unfortunate. So, the Ministry of Finance should release the N620 million between today and tomorrow.”

The Senate President assured Nigerians that the relevant committees of the Senate will carry out a follow-up on Thursday to ensure that work on the isolation centres begins and is completed.

“The Senate Committee on Health will come back tomorrow (Thursday), we want to see that temporary isolation centre fixed.

“We need to be committed, we need to be very serious, and this is the essence of our oversight, but because it is very important, we decided that the leadership of the Senate should lead this oversight,” Lawan said.

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The properties, he said, were linked to some companies not paying taxes.

Making the disclosure at a media briefing with the Minister of Finance, Mrs Zainab Ahmed, in attendance, Fowler said the companies linked to the properties had already written to government to deny ownership.

He said in that case, the government would be left with no choice but to take over the properties.

His words:  “We have certain private organisations that own properties in Nigeria and have not been paying any taxes.

“So we took a review of all properties and we have about 2,000 that were under corporate ownership and those corporate entities have not paid any tax.

“By law, where a company has not filed or paid any taxes, we have to use estimated assessment based on turnover.

“Out of the 2,000, about 569 have come forward to pay taxes. We have done an assessment of N8bn, while the others have asked for payment by instalment.

“Also, 116 claimed not to own those properties. 30 of them have put it in writing claiming that they do not own the properties in question.

“We have written accordingly to the Ministry of Finance and we believe that the government will take those properties over in line with the law.”

Also speaking during the briefing, the Minister of Finance said the Federal Government had paid over N6.11 trillion to settle inherited debts and liabilities to states, contractors, and joint venture partners, among others, between May 29, 2015, and December 2018.

She said the debts inherited by the government was paid despite the low revenue in the last three years.

The minister explained that while about N1.65 trillion  was used to pay state governments for the refund of excess deductions made from the Paris Club debt, about N2.07 trillion was spent on settling the Joint Venture Cash Call obligations.

She stated further that Contractors/Export Expansion Grants debt of N1.9tn was settled while about N488bn spent by state governments on road projects had also been paid.

Among other details, the minister said government had released N54 billion to settle outstanding pension arrears in 2014, 2015 and 2016.

Pension claims, she said, were also paid up to March of last year.

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