North Assembly’ll Scrutinise 2012 Budget – David Mark
As Nigerians look forward to the passage of the 2012 Appropriation Bill, the Senate President, David Mark, Sunday reiterated the resolve of the federal lawmakers to carefully scrutinise the 2012 budget estimates before them. He said this was necessary “So that we can pass an implementable budget and avoid the annual rhetoric of inability to implement.”
The N4.7 trillion 2012 budget presented to a joint session of the National Assembly on December 13 last year by President Goodluck Jonathan is expected to be passed before the end of this month.
It is currently undergoing its final stage of consideration in the two chambers of the federal legislature, as various federal ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) have already appeared before relevant committees of the legislature to defend their respective budgetary allocations.
Mark, who spoke the minds of the federal lawmakers in his goodwill message to Nigerians on the occasion of this year’s Eid-el-Maulud celebration, said: “The challenge at the moment is to diversify the economy away from its over-dependence on the capital-intensive oil sector which provides 95 per cent of our foreign exchange earnings and about 80 per cent of budgetary revenues.”
Noting the scepticism of most Nigerians over the mooted deregulation policy of government, Mark said the present administration had demonstrated the political will to implement the market-oriented reforms.
He pointed out that the Subsidy Re-investment (SURE) programme “would reverse in positive term the plight of the nation long hobbled by political instability, corruption, inadequate infrastructure and poor macro-economic management.”
He restated the commitment of the Senate and indeed the National Assembly to stand firmly for the unity and continued corporate existence of the country “no matter the odds or challenges of the recent time.”
He therefore urged all Nigerians, especially Muslims and Christians to unite in prayer for the peace and unity of the nation, “in order to put our detractors to shame.”
Mark noted that “the current security challenges which have truly tasked and threatened the nation must be decisively confronted”, saying, “This is no time to sit on the fence and engage in the blame game.”
Mark lamented that the security situation “has degenerated to an intolerable level leading to the mass movement (exodus) of our people from one end of the country to the other”, adding: “We must as a people rise up and halt this.”
Towards this end, the Senate President urged governments at all levels and the security operatives “to restore hope and peace that would engender confidence in our people to stop this drift, saying, “We have toiled over the years to keep Nigeria one and we cannot afford to slip now.”
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