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.Buhari’ submitted ‘problematic’ Appropriation Bill – Lawan
.Cash withdrawal limit not based on politics, CBN tells Reps.
President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan on Thursday disclosed that the 2023 Appropriation Bill submitted by President Muhammadu Buhari to the National Assembly is full of errors.
Senator Lawan who made this known at the plenary session before adjournment added that both chambers in collaboration with executive arm of government are cleaning the errors in the budget.
Also, indications emerged yesterday that the Red Chamber may pass the federal budget on December 28.
He said: “Due to many errors in the budget, the National Assembly will not be able to pass the budget today (December 22) , but will come back on December 28 to pass 2023 budget”.
According to him, the process of cleaning the errors contained in the Appropriation Bill was concluded yesterday and the two chambers have to harmonize the copy to be able to present the report for passage by both chambers on Wednesday 28th, 2022.
He said: “Today was scheduled for us to receive and consider the report of our Committee on Appropriation for the 2023 Appropriation Bill.
“However, due to some challenges, we are not able to receive the report of the committee, and the main reason is that the Appropriation Bill came to the National Assembly with some problems and when our Committees on Appropriation in the Senate and the House of Representatives started to reconcile the figures of what we have done and what was presented, the problems became very obvious and they were not easy to deal with, and therefore our committees had to start a process of cleaning up the Bill first.
“That process, of course, also engaged the executive arm because the problems came from there. It was concluded only yesterday, and our committee secretariats are not able to finish processing the budget for us to take today nor tomorrow, nor Saturday nor Sunday because this are periods that are for festivities, Christmas period. Monday, Tuesday are public holidays.
“Consequently, we can only receive the report and consider it on Wednesday, the 28th December, 2022. That is the earliest, that’s next week.
“So far, this 9th National Assembly has done so much to pass the previous Appropriation Bills since 2019, before the end of the year to date and I’m sure that this would remain one of the cherished legacies of the Ninth National Assembly.
“So by the Grace of God, on the 28th of this month, the Senate and indeed the House of Representatives will all come back to receive and consider the budget report from our committees.
“Secondly, our Committee on Finance is this (Thursday) morning holding a public hearing on the Finance Bill 2022, and of course the Finance Bill is the basis on which the Appropriation Bill 2023 is built.
“We had arranged yesterday that the Finance Committee will present a report of the Finance Bill. Hearing at 2pm today. That of course would not be possible.
“This is the reason: We also receive two communications yesterday – Supplementary Budget 2022 and of course, Ways and Means. So our Committees on Appropriation, Finance, Water Resources, Agriculture and Works and Housing will be processing the Bills for today.
“In that respect, the Senate will adjourn immediately so that our committees start the action they are supposed to take and therefore those reports will also be available to us on 28th December when we will be here.
“And by the grace of God, Wednesday the 28th December, 2022 will be a very heavily loaded day for us, but I’m sure we will be able to deal with all the issues that Wednesday and our colleagues who would wish to travel back to continue the festivities with their families can still make it the following day.
“I want to thank all of you my distinguished colleagues for your support, cooperation, commitment, dedication on all these things that we have been doing as a legislature.
“Let me advise the executive. The Bills that have come to us, the Ways and Means, the Supplementary Appropriation, whoever is invited to come and explain, give information or any details for the National Assembly to understand must do so, because its not our work alone.
“We want to do our work thoroughly, we want to understand whatever we are going to deal with and to base our decisions on information, and time is of essence.
“Just like we are going to sacrifice part of our festive period to be back here, nobody should tell us that they are in their places because it is Christmas. They should be available with every necessary information.”
Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says its policy of cash withdrawal limit is not based on politics, contrary to insinuations.
Mrs Aisha Ahmad, the Deputy Governor, CBN, said this in Abuja on Thursday when she answered questions from lawmakers at the House of Representatives during plenary.
Ahmad, who represented the CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, said the policy was sequel to critical thinking, research and other considerations.
She was responding to a question by Rep. Chinedu Obidigwe (APGA-Anambra) who wanted to know if the policy was aimed at favouring the ruling All Progressives Congress(APC) in 2023 general election.
Ahmad said that the CBN had ordered for N500 million to be printed for circulation, adding that the bank had been flexible by reviewing the policy upward from N100,000 to N500,000 for individuals and from N500,000 to N5 million for corporate bodies weekly.
She said that the policy was expected to create new jobs in the ICT sector, contrary to insinuations that it would lead to job loss.
She said the operators of Point on Sales (POS) would not be affected by the policy, adding that the CBN was aware that the POS had created a means of livelihood for about 4.4 million Nigerians.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Ahmad was grilled by the lawmakers who asked questions bothering on the cash policy.
Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila, the Speaker, said the reason why the House should be briefed on such policy was because the lawmakers represented the people.
He added that although naira redesign may be a good intention, it was necessary for the apex bank to carry the lawmakers along.
Gbajabiamila queried the CBN rationale for three months’ notice, when other apex banks usually gave more than a year’s notice for such policies.
“How come can we rationalise three months’ notice in a cash-full society compare to England where a year notice was given,” he said.
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