2017 Price Range Suffers Setback In Senate : 9ja News - 27/01/2018

Consideration of the 2018 price range has suffered a setback at the Senate.

Lawmakers failed to pass the 2018-2020 Medium Term Expenditure Framework, (MTEF) and Fiscal Tactic Paper (FSP), yesterday.

The MTEF/FSP is a precursor to the passage of the2018 Appropriation Bill.

Senate suspended consideration of a report of its joint committee on Finance, Appropriations and National Planning and Economic Affairs due to the absence of the chairman, John Enoh.

He was expected to present the report, yesterday.

On Wednesday, Senate stood down consideration of the documents due to lack of quorum.

President Muhammadu Buhari sent the 2018-2020 MTEF and FSP to the Senate on October 19.

The document was sent to the joint committee to perform on and report back to the full property. But Senate suspended consideration, due to Enoh’s absence simply because he is at the ongoing Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ meeting, convened to ascertain the cap oil output from Nigeria.

Announcing Enoh’s absence, Senate Leader, Ahmad Lawan asked senators to be patient, in order to take an informed selection on the passage of the documents.

"We need to know what the production quota for Nigeria will be so that we’ll take a incredibly informed and enlightened decision on the daily production for our crude. I think this is a sturdy and adequate ground for us to stand down the consideration of this report till next Tuesday."

Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, who presided at plenary, also emphasised the will need to wait for the outcome of the meeting ahead of going ahead with the passage of MTEF/FSP.

The lawmakers unanimously adopted the prayer.

Also, Senators drawn from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Celebration (PDP) have expressed worries over Nigeria’s increasing debt profile.

Senator Solomon Adeola, tasked the Committee on Nearby and Foreign Debts to look critically and determine the country’s factual debt profile when senator Rabiu Kwankwaso said Nigeria will have to be careful not to fall into unnecessary debt trap, again.

Meanwhile, Senate President Bukola Saraki has said he "sometimes wonders" if technocrats want to embarrass the Federal Government.

He mentioned this in reaction to the assumptions the N8.six trillion 2018 price range is predicated on. Citing an example, the senate president wondered why the price range would be predicated on two.3 million barrels per day when the nation has only been in a position to record 1.9 million barrels per day in 2017.

"If you appear at the previous two months, exactly where oil cost has been as high as $60, reports from the Federal Accounts Allocation Committee is that they have not been in a position to put any dollars in the Excess Crude Account.

"The only cause is that it have to be that oil production is considerably significantly less than what we are budgeting for. I consider this is an area we have to have to look at seriously, it will have to be that the level of theft and vandalism nevertheless going on is pretty higher and it is not becoming appropriately reported.

"Secondly, my concern, and I’m content that we are debating it, is the independent income. If we all look at our figures, the spending budget was N180 anything billion but, in nine months, we only did N185 billion, meanwhile, we are budgeting N800 and some thing for 2018. How realistic is that? At times, I wonder if technocrats want to embarrass government and attempt to do some factors knowing it can’t perform."

In a connected development, the senate president also hinted that funding challenges inhibiting operation of security agencies would be addressed in the 2018 spending budget. The senate president said this when he inaugurated the senator Ahmad Lawan-led Ad hoc committee charged with the responsibility of reviewing the current safety infrastructure of the nation in the face of increasing safety breaches.

Saraki said current attacks in Adamawa and Zamfara states, exactly where dozens of lives and home have been lost, are unacceptable.

The committee, Saraki stated, should work to provide answers to vital inquiries and difficulties which involve the clamour for state police, technology, funding, collaboration amongst security agencies, part of traditional and community leaders, among other individuals. The committee will function in consultation with the several heads of safety agencies in the nation.