THE Senate Wednesday passed the N4,695,190,000,000 2014 Budget which is N52,230,000,000 higher than the initial amount of N4,642,960,000,000 proposed by President Goodluck Jonathan.
Meanwhile, to leverage on the opportunity provided by the recent offer of the $1 billion Nigeria power sector investment guaranteed by the World Bank’ Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), the Federal Government is taking the search for investors to the United States ( U.S). The campaign holds May ending 2014.
Of the amount okayed, N408,687,801,891 is for statutory transfers while N712,000,000,000 would be expended on debt service. The sum of N2,454,887,566,702 is for recurrent (non-debt) expenditure while the balance of N1,119,614,631,407 is earmarked for contribution to the development fund for capital expenditure for the year ending December 31, 2014.
The budget was premised on a benchmark of $77.50 per barrel and a yearly crude oil production of 2.3 million barrels per day as well as an exchange rate of N160 per dollar.
Of the recurrent budget, education got the highest figure of N373,532,095,037. This is followed by Defence which got the sum of N314,347,339,871. Police Formation and Commands took third position with N295,561,812,085.
Clause by clause consideration of the bill on the floor of the Senate went smoothly until they got to the issue of N7 billion voted for the National Conference. The opposition senators, comprising mostly members of All Progressives Congress (APC), had attempted to frustrate the approval of the said amount.
It took the maturity and tact of the Senate President, David Mark, to push the clause through. The opposition lawmakers had echoed in the negative when the Senate President first put forward the question, but realising the danger in giving the ruling at that time, he paused a while to allow his People’s Democratic Party (PDP) colleagues re-strategise.
By the time he put the question again, there was an overwhelming approval for the conference vote to the disappointment of APC lawmakers.
President Jonathan had on December 19, 2013, through the Co-ordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, laid before both Chambers of the National Assembly the 2014 Appropriation Bill, containing the estimates of revenue and expenditure of the federation for the 2014 fiscal year.
The Senate subsequently debated the general principles of the Bill and read it the second time on January 23 after which it was referred to the Committees on Appropriations and Finance for further legislative action.
They jointly further referred the schedules of the bill to the appropriate Standing Committees on money bills in line with Order 92 (4) (a) of the Senate Standing Order.
The Chairman, Senate Joint Committees on Appropriation and Finance, Ahmed Maccido, observed that “the 2014-2016 Medium Term Expenditure Frame-work and Fiscal Strategy Paper, upon which the 2014 budget was based, just like the previous editions, will require being refined and re¬tooled both in procedure and process.
A major issue here is in the planning required and the engagement processes with all stakeholders which will have added effective value to the budget process, with obvious multiplier effect on the economy.
“The drop in oil production volume as reflected in the budget estimates of the past two years remains a disturbing phenomenon. The obvious reason has been traced to the obstruction to oil production as a result of pipeline vandalism and crude oil theft.”
The committees also decried the inability of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to fully implement budgets. According to the committees, the development, which has become a recurring decimal, was becoming worrisome.
“The appalling state of budget implementation in the country is still a worrisome recurring decimal for our economy. Unspent funds that are rolled over into the economy only make a mockery of development which is a dire necessity across the nation. Government must be seen to be taking steps to improve on this.
“The 2014 budget, which is described as one of job creation and inclusive growth, deserves to urgently rise to the occasion to defend itself, in view of the yawning gap between employment created and the army of the unemployed”, the committees stated.
Commending the joint committees for their efforts, Mark urged the Executive arm of government to ensure full implementation of the budget.
With the passage at the Senate, the budget bill now awaits the concurrence of the House of Representatives before it is sent to the President for assent.
The Federal Government through agencies like the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) have in the past taken the Nigerian Power Sector road-show programmes to the United States (U.S.) and other emerging markets across the world to attract investors in the sector back home.
However, the drive has not really yielded the desired result as can still be seen in the teething challenges in the transmission and distribution of power in Nigeria almost one year after full privatisation of the sector.
However, smarting from the opportunity of the World Bank’s MIGA fillip, the Nigeria Development and Finance Forum (NDFF) is once again taking the initiative to investors in the U.S. and has already lined up experts and Nigerian power and financial sectors’ regulators that will speak at a conference slated in New York, from May 29 to 31 this year.
MIGA’s Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Michel Wormser, who began a working visit to Nigeria penultimate Tuesday, told journalists: “Over the next couple of years, I would expect that MIGA would provide guarantees above $1 billion in Nigeria. And this is primarily going to be in the energy sector and the discussion that we are going to have today is to precisely identify with the governments and agencies where they would see the highest value from MIGA involvement, given the development priorities of the country.”
Some of the key speakers include the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Dr. Sam Amadi, who is expected to lead the Nigerian power sector engagement with international investors and development professionals in the U.S.
The theme of the conference, which equally encompasses other sectors, is: “ Entrenchment of Economic Growth in Nigeria: Opportunities for Asset Diversification, Investments in Housing, Textile and Fashion Industry, SMEs and Value Chains of Big Businesses.”
A statement by the NDFF obtained by The Guardian on Tuesday in New York declared that the power stakeholders’ session of the conference will be co-hosted by Financial Nigeria International Limited, lead conference organiser, and Detail Commercial Solicitors (DCS), the first commercial solicitor firm in Nigeria to specialise exclusively in non-court room practice.
The (NDFF) is a yearly international conference that provides the international community of finance and investment independent policy briefings on the Nigerian market. This year’s conference is being sponsored by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigerian Export Import Bank (NEXIM) and Arik Air.
The NDFF statement yesterday gave some insight into the conference: “The United States Department of Commerce (U.S.DOC) will lead the participation of U.S. business delegation, with specific interest in power, agriculture and hospitality.
“The keynote address of the session on power will be delivered by Amadi who will provide an update on the privatisation process and regulatory expectations for increase in power generation supply and improved performance of distribution companies; current legal, regulatory and tariff frame-work. The title of the session will be: “Ongoing Power Sector Reform and Inherent Investment Opportunities.”
“The session will feature a high-value panel, including Jimi Oluwabiyi, Chief Executive Officer, Trans-Africa Gas and Electric Limited, as well as thought leaders and representatives from various discos and power developers that are providing solutions to small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) and select Nigerian SMEs, among others.
Source: Guardian
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