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Members
of the House of Representatives, on Thursday, condemned the frequent
adjustments proposed by President Goodluck Jonathan in the 2010 Budget,
saying it does not portray the country as a serious nation.

The lawmakers,
during their plenary session, expressed their disappointment with Mr.
Jonathan after the Speaker, Dimeji Bankole, read a letter from the
president proposing yet another amendment to the 2010 Appropriation
Bill, barely one month after he proposed the first amendment.
Consequently, the arrival of the president’s letter stalled the planned
passage of the budget yesterday.

In the letter,
dated July 7, 2010, and addressed to Mr. Bankole and the senate
president, David Mark, the president asked the legislature to approve
the revised Revenue Framework, adjustment to amendment budget proposal,
and amendment to the N639.8 billion supplementary budget.

Mr. Jonathan sought
the cooperation of the legislature in revising the revenue framework to
be based on assumptions for oil production of 2.2 million barrels per
day, and an oil price benchmark of $60 per barrel. This, he said,
follows indications from the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation
(NNPC) that oil production for the 2010 fiscal year is likely to
average at about 2.2 million barrels per day, as opposed to the 2.25
million barrels per day assumption in the last revision to the revenue
framework.

He added that the
revision will imply aggregate revenue for the federal government budget
of N2.392 trillion, and a deficit of about N1.829 trillion (or 5.6% of
GDP), based on the proposed amendment budget’s level of expenditure.

The president also
sought the cooperation of the legislators to substitute the budgets of
eight ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA) with revised versions.
According to him, the substitution is a result of reprioritisation of
capital projects by the State House, Nigerian Army, Nigerian Air Force,
Intelligence Community, and the Ministries of Aviation, the Federal
Capital Territory, and Foreign Affairs.

Mr. Jonathan
informed the lawmakers about slight amendments to the Consolidated
Revenue Fund charges, as well as the automatic adjustment to Statutory
Transfers, based on the revised Revenue Framework. He asked for slight
amendments to the budgets for certain MDAs, adding that their
allocations to some projects have either been reviewed or completely
dropped.

He listed the MDAs
to include Secretary to the Government of the Federation; the
Ministries of Information and Communication; Culture, Tourism and
National Orientation; Women Affairs; Federal Capital Territory;
Aviation; the National Planning Commission; and the National Assembly
Office.

Mr. Jonathan also
told the lawmakers that additional funds are required by the Foreign
Affairs to facilitate the posting and movement of ambassadors and
diplomatic staff, which are crucial aspects of the ministry’s statutory
responsibilities, while additional funds are required by the Niger
Delta ministry to commence training programmes for non-militant Niger
Delta youths.

Mr. Bankole had
hardly concluded reading the two-page letter when the chairman of the
House Committee on Appropriation, Ayo Adeseun, complained of frequent
changes in the proposed budget, pointing out that Nigeria will not be
taken seriously following the development.

Mr. Adeseun, a
member of the PDP from Oyo State, who said his committee finished work
on the 2010 Budget at about 4 am yesterday, with a view to passing same
day, informed his colleagues that officials of the executive arm
contacted them about 10 days ago about fresh adjustments to the
document, but that they kicked against it. According to him, agreeing
to it, could amount to bringing the amendments through the backdoor.

The lawmaker, who was livid when he spoke, said the frequent adjustments in the budget will make the country look unserious.

“That practice
almost always throw us into quagmire. This has been a recurring issue.
This is July, and there is no budget for the country. The economy is
dying, nothing is happening. People have been waiting for the budget,
but we keep amending and amending and amending. This does not go well
for us as a serious nation,” Mr. Adeseun said.

Also speaking, the
chairman of the committee on finance, John Enoh, strongly criticised
the president’s fresh request for adjustment in the budget, adding that
the committee had discussed the issue critically and frowned at it.

Mr. Enoh, a PDP
member from Cross River State, who was also angry, told his colleagues
that, as a legislature, “we are not bound 100 percent by any proposal
emanating from the executive.”

Break for budget

Mr. Bankole,
however, calmed the raging lawmakers when he announced that the plenary
sessions would be suspended next week to sort out the issues of the
budget and the outstanding public hearings to be organised by the
standing committees.

Mr. Jonathan had
earlier, in a letter dated May 29, proposed adjustments to the 2010
Budget. In the letter, the president sought to make adjustments to the
budget due to significant revenue shortfalls in both oil and non-oil
revenue, which he noted may continue through the 2010 fiscal year. He
added that this would pose adverse challenges to effectively financing
the budget.

“Given the recent
drop in international oil prices from over 80 dollar per barrel to
under 70 dollar per barrel, it is prudent to revise the oil benchmark
price to a more realistic level,” the President had stated. On the
expenditure, the president said there a was need to review the
aggregate from the about 4.61 billion approved in the 2010
Appropriation Act, and to adjust the budget details accordingly.

According to him,
certain critical items such the statutory transfers, debt services, the
service-wide votes, and other critical expenditure heads which were
inadvertently omitted, or underprovided for, had made it necessary to
provide for them through a supplementary appropriation.

Other key
unanticipated items that needed financing, he explained, were the
negotiated civil service wage increase, Power Holding Company arrears
of monetization, and the 50th anniversary celebration.

“It is proposed to provide for all these expenditure through a supplementary budget,” he said.

The Presidency had in its initial proposal for the 2010 Budget,
pegged the oil benchmark price at about 54 dollar per barrel, but after
several reviews of the fiscal document, the National Assembly passed
the over N4 trillion 2010 Appropriation Act, leaving the benchmark at
about 70 dollar per barrel.