TODAY’s scheduled visit of President Goodluck
Jonathan to the National Assembly to present
the estimates of the 2014 budget has been
postponed till next Tuesday.
The Clerk of the National Assembly, Salisu
Maikasuwa, made this known to The PUNCH
while dismissing claims that a directive to all
National Assembly members of staff on Grade
Level 01 to 14 to stay away from duty till
2pm today was not unconnected with a
planned protest by the workers.
Maikasuwa added that it was an annual ritual
for the members of staff of the National
Assembly to be away from duty whenever the
President was to address the lawmakers.
He said, “This is an annual ritual. If the
President is coming, only staff who have
duties to perform in the chambers are allowed
to come to work in the morning hours.
“Banks too are affected.
“But, since Mr. President is now rescheduled
to come on Tuesday next week, the directive
has been overtaken by events.”
Investigations by The PUNCH however
showed that Jonathan and the leadership of
the National Assembly agreed to postpone
the presentation on Tuesday (today) at a
meeting they held at the Aso Rock Presidential
Villa, Abuja on Sunday night.
Findings indicated that the Senate President,
David Mark; the Speaker of the House of
Representatives, Mr. Aminu Tambuwal; the
Deputy Senate President, Mr. Ike Ekweremadu;
and the Deputy Speaker of the House, Mr.
Emeka Ihedioha, met with the President to
reschedule the visit.
The meeting reportedly took place shortly
after the reception Jonathan organised for the
victorious U-17 Golden Eaglets ended.
“The four principal officers came to meet with
the President. Mark drove into the Villa and
led the others”, a source told The PUNCH in
Abuja on Monday.
It was gathered that a key reason for the
cancellation was the 2013-2015 Medium
Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal
Strategy Paper, which had not been approved
by the National Assembly.
The approval of the MTEF and FSP must
precede every new budget in compliance with
the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007.
It was learnt that though Jonathan had long
submitted the MTEF and the FSP to the
legislature, they had not been approved.
Members of the House of Representatives
had resolved in October not to touch the MTEF
or the 2014 budget until they had done an
assessment of the level of performance of the
2013 budget.
A member of the House said, “This
assessment is ongoing and the House has yet
to finalise it.
“Standing committees went on oversight to
capital project sites, but some of them have
yet to lay their reports before the House.
“The House has to look at these reports to
form the basis of considering the MTEF for
approval and by extension, the visit of Mr.
President.”
Findings showed that the House had earlier
referred the MTEF to its Joint Committees on
Appropriation and Finance for advice.
“Till date, the report on MTEF is not ready. So,
if the MTEF is not approved yet, how feasible
is it to receive Jonathan”, the lawmaker
asked.
In a circular, the Director, Personnel
Management, National Assembly, Dr. Ishaya
Sarki, gave no reason for the postponement.
When contacted, the Deputy House Leader,
Mr. Leo Ogor, said, “Issues bearing on the
MTEF,” were partly responsible for the
decision.
He said, “There is no point rushing anything;
what is worth doing is worth doing well.
“It has to do with the passage of the MTEF;
this has to do with figures and we must get
everything right instead of rushing.
“We are still waiting for the report of the
committee, when we get it and we pass the
MTEF, the President can come.
“This will not take longer than next week or
let me say, this week at the most.
“We appeal to Nigerians and everyone to be
patient with us.”
However, another source claimed that there
was an unresolved dispute between Jonathan
and the National Assembly over the proposed
crude oil benchmark of the 2014 budget, which
was $74.
The source stated that the aim of the meeting
between the National Assembly leadership
and the President was to agree on the
“appropriate benchmark” for the budget to
avoid any “unnecessary delay of the budget
that may crop up later.”
The oil benchmark for the 2013 budget
(N4.9tn) was originally $75 per barrel of
crude.
However, in considering the budget, the House
passed $80 as benchmark, while the Senate
passed $78.
Both chambers later harmonised on $79, a
figure that later became the source of a
protracted budget feud between Jonathan and
the National Assembly before he signed it on
February 27.
Our source added. “ The meeting also looked
at the benchmark. It was a way of advising
the President to consider the possibility of
raising the benchmark to avoid the type of
long delay that was experienced in the case of
the 2013 budget.”
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