The Senate has approved the 2014-2016 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP), an important element for annual budget planning.
The passage followed the consideration of the report of the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriation at its plenary session in Abuja.
The senators, however, opposed the Excess Crude Account (ECA) and the crude oil benchmark for the period. The Senate Deputy President, Ike Ekweremadu, called for the establishment of a National Assembly Budget Office to advise federal lawmakers on the complexities in national budgets.
“We need to have a budget office in the National Assembly to help us in analysing the complex nature of national budgets,’’ he said. Sen. Olubunmi Adetunmbi (APC-Ekiti) urged his colleagues not to pass the document because “the MTEF/FSP contains a lot of unexplained questions and contradictions that we need to figure out’’.
“This is not the type of document that the Senate should pass without a studied look,’’ Adetunmbi said. In his contribution, Sen. Ita Enang, described the Excess Crude Account (ECA) as “illegal and unconstitutional’’. Sen. Olugbenga Kaka (APC-Ogun) canvassed for the scrapping of the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P), citing its “parallel’’ functions with existing government agencies.
The Senate President, David Mark, said the rejection of the MTEF/FSP would deprive them guidance to make their inputs in the 2014 budget to be presented by President Goodluck Jonathan on Nov.19.
