Is President Olusegun Obasanjo's proposed National Dialogue the way forward for Nigeria?
2005 Budget: House Fears Delayed Passage
From Ahamefula Ogbu and Kunle Aderinokun in Abuja, 12.17.2004
The House of Representatives yesterday said the December 22 date it had earlier set for the passage of the 2005 budget may no longer be realistic because of the changes President Olusegun Obasanjo has proposed to the document. Although details of the new amendments are yet to get to the House, the leadership of the National Assembly met to decide what to do. Addressing newsmen yesterday during a joint press conference called by the House Committee Chairman on Media and Publicity, Hon Abike Dabiri, Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Hon Gabriel Suswan said it would be difficult to say if the budget would be ready January 1, 2005 but pledged that once they got the details, they would set to work. He said that all the Committees of the House had completed and submitted their reports preparatory to the actual passage before the President's letter. "We had aimed at passing the budget by December 22 but because the President sent a letter that he would send a review which is still being expected, that date would no longer be realistic," he said. Chairman on Finance, Hon Farouk Lawan, who was also at the press conference said that the House needed to be sure of the revenue framework of the budget before passing it. He said that the budget came with a lot of problems, which they have been trying to sort out especially the deficit funding, adding that the President's on the $27 a barrel benchmark was not "sacrosanct." He, however, did not explain. "We want to ensure that whatever option that is taken to fund the budget deficit is reliable. The National Assembly has always been averse to funding deficit through borrowing given our debt profile in both foreign and local currencies, especially at a time we are earning so much from oil", he said. Dabiri assured that all hands would be on deck to ensure early passage of the budget once the amendment was received from the President, pointing out that between now and early next week, the picture would become clearer. Meanwhile, The Economist Intelligence Unit of The Economist, a London-based magazine has expressed support for the $27 per barrel benchmark for the budget. Speaking yesterday in Abuja at the pre-event briefing of the forthcoming "Business Roundtable with the Government of Nigeria," Director, Central, Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa of The Economist Corporate Network, Mr. Nenad Pacek, said "it is smart to be conservative when it comes to oil prices." According to him, "most governments all over the world that are dependent on oil revenue put in their budget slightly lower figures than expected oil price". He cautioned that "fiscal stability will be affected if they choose high prices" Obasanjo and the joint National Assembly Committee on Appropriation and Finance are not agreed on the benchmark. While the National Assembly is considering between $30 and $35, Obasanjo had insisted that $27 benchmark be maintained.
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