Reps To Overhaul Buhari's 2016 Budget

The 2016 budget by President Muhammadu Buhari may not be returning to him the same way as the House of Representatives has said it would be thoroughly overhauled by the National Assembly so it will be in tune with current economic realities.

The House said it was very unlikely that 2016 budget of over N6 trillion would stand eventually as it was mere proposal and estimates, The Punch reports.

Despite the tumbling prices of crude oil, Buhari had last week presented the N6.08 trillion budget before the National Assembly with a bench mark of crude oil pegged at $38 per barrel while actual price had dipped far below the projected budget figure.

Reacting to whether the budget was implementable, Leo Ogor, the House minority leader said: “What we have before us are mere proposals. None is sacrosanct. That is why we are the legislature, which has the power of appropriation.

“The proposals will be subjected to thorough overhauling, taking into cognisance the current economic realities of the country and our revenue expectations from funding sources.”

On his part, Abdulrazak Namdas, the chairman, house committee on media and public affairs said the budget would not be returned to Buhari the way it came.

According to him, no budget ever returns to the executive the way it came to the National Assembly.

He said it would be difficult to say how they would treat the proposals as the breakdown of the budget had not been made available to members.

He explained that the National Assembly proceeded on break immediately after the budget was laid and work on the budget would only start when they resume in January.

“It is hasty to say, yes, we will increase this allocation or reduce that one. No, I can’t say so now,” Namdas added.

After Buhari presented the 2016 budget, Olufemi Fani-Kayode criticised it saying, it was filled with insincerity and fantasy.

On its part, the opposition, Peoples Democratic Party said the Nigerian president presented a fraudulent budget to the citizens.

However, the minister of solid minerals, Kayode Fayemi said the N6.08 trillion 2016 budgetary proposal presented by President Buhari was not too much.