Budget: $2 oil benchmark cut to fund ERGP, Abuja runway, Amnesty

About N81billion accruing from the $2 cut in the earlier proposed 2017 crude oil benchmark will be used to fund the recently launched Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), amnesty programme, as well as critical projects, including, federal roads, repairs of Abuja Airport Runway among others.

The N81billion additional revenue approval is contained in a budget document seen by BusinessDay which also showed that the National Assembly approved N10billion for the takeoff of second Abuja runway.

President Buhari had proposed a N7.298 trillion budgetary spending for 2017 and a $42.5 oil benchmark but the law makers raised the figures to N7.441trillion and $44.5, respectively to free up more funds infrastructure, according to the Appropriation Bill which the lawmakers passed on Thursday.

The law makers, however, retained crude oil production and exchange rate at 2.2million barrels per day and N305/$1 respectively.

Specifically, out of the N81billion additional spending, N2.5billion has  been budgeted for ERGP, N10billion for amnesty programme, N25billion for roads nationwide, and N5.8billion for repairs of Abuja Airport Runway.

Others are backlog Corps members allowance N13.06billion, increase in personnel cost N5.1billion, UNESCO Assessed Contribution N1.2billion, subscription to Shelter Afrique N3.6billion as well as National Identity Management Commission N5billion.

The Abuja Airport runway repair has already been executed.

Speaking on the development, Chairman Senate Committee on Appropriations, Danjuma Goje said: “The National Assembly introduced funding for the takeoff of the construction of Second Abuja Runway, which was not in the initial submission of Mr President. We allocated money for the takeoff of the project, not finance the whole project but at least the project will start. And we are just leading the way for the Federal Government to implement. We gave about N10billion for the takeoff of the second Abuja runway”.

Experts have warned that delay in the passage of the 2017 budget will hinder Nigeria’s chances of getting out of economic recession.

The Federal Government had also expressed concern that delays in the passage of the budget may stall the implementation of its recently-launched Economic Recovery Growth Plan (ERGP), even as it tied exiting economic recession to early passage of the budget as well as the full implementation of the ERGP.

Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma, said: “The 2017 budget is structured to get the economy out of the recession before the end of this year‎. So that is why we are anxious to get the budget passed so that we can begin the implementation and begin to take all the steps we need to get the economy out of recession”.

Also,  Minister of State for Environment Ibrahim Jibrin hinged the floating of Nigeria’s $20billion Sovereign Green Bond on the passage of the 2017 budget.

Issuance of the bond was earlier slated at the beginning of the second quarter of the year, specifically in April.

The green bond, the first of its kind in Nigeria will be the first sovereign issuance from an African nation.

Officials say it will be used to fund a range of climate-related initiatives including mass transit, land re-afforestation, remediation and solar projects.

Analysts have blamed the National Assembly for delayed passage of the document. But Goje urged Nigerians not to blame the National Assembly, attributing delayed passage of the document to late submission by the executive.

President Buhari submitted the budget to a joint session of the National Assembly on December 14, 2016 as against the September deadline given in the Fiscal Responsibility Act.

Out of the total sum of N1,717,829,546,407 approved for Executive and Federal Executive bodies subhead, National Assembly got N100 billion for Zonal Intervention projects (Constituency projects); N15 billion for Recapitalization of Development Finance Institutions (DFIs); N20 billion for payment of local contractors’ debts/other liabilities; N12 billion for special intervention projects 1 and additional N8 billion for special intervention project 2 respectively.

The sums of N10 billion was also provided for Conditional grants; N9 billion for capital and N15.992 billion for social safety net were approved for OSSAP – Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); N45 billion for North-East intervention fund; N20 billion counterpart funding including Global Fund/Health; N10 billion for Galaxy Backbone; N14.5 billion for facilities and technical services, among others.

Under the Recurrent Expenditure (Non-Debt) expenditure,  Federal Ministry of Interior gets the highest allocation of N472,597,817,561; followed by Education with N398,686,819,418; Defence – N330,543,309,223; Health – N252,854,396,662; Fiscal Responsibility Commission – N89,316,015,167; NSA – N76,281,025,653; Petroleum Resources – N63,222,101,051; Foreign Affairs – N56,424,094,037 while State House gets N51,933,366,906.

 

KEHINDE AKINTOLA & OWEDE AGBAJILEKE, Abuja