Masari assures on judicious use of excess oil revenue
By Chinwendu
Nnadozie,
Minna and
’Gbenga Faturoti, Osogbo
“Nigerians should stop calling for
the sharing and distribution of the excess revenue from crude oil export but to
support the government by making inputs for the even distribution of the
nation’s wealth,” Speaker, House of Representatives, Aminu Bello
Masari, has said.
At an interactive session with journalists
in Minna, he assured Nigerians that the excess money accruing to the federation
from the increase in world crude oil price is intact and will be judiciously
utilised for their benefit.
Masari cautioned the executive and civil
servants, at another retreat at Ada, Osun State, against distorting the 2005
budget when approved by the House. He said the house would not hesitate to
criticise the President Olusegun Obasanjo-led executive if it fails to
implement the 2005 budget to the letter.
The Speaker in Minna said, “Nigerians
should be rest assured that the present dispensation is self-accounting and
will ensure nothing short of that”.
He said the Finance Minister, Dr. Ngozi
Okonjo-Iweala, has been asked to ensure that the oil windfall is secure with the
Central Bank of Nigeria.
He affirmed that when the House invited the
minister, the excess oil revenue had hit about 1.2 billion dollars (N327
billion), adding that the money will not be tampered with without the knowledge
of the national assembly.
He said though the windfall will be
beneficial to all tiers of government, activities of states and local
governments are not helping the economic reforms of the Federal Government.
He said the executive and the civil
servants distorted the 2004 budget, promising that such will not be allowed to
repeat itself.
Masari advised the lawmakers to use all the
legislative power bestowed on them by the constitution to ensure that the next
year’s budget is not rubbished. He criticised civil servants for all the
flaws associated with the budget implementation, saying, “In most cases,
the information emanating from the civil servants are not true.
Also, many of the information they pass to
the president are not true. We cannot allow the country to be consumed by an
insignificant number of these civil servants.”
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