Senate Compiles Budget Figures, Orders C'ttees to Submit Final Allocations Today

N’Assembly Complex


PPPRA claims over 200m litres of petrol in circulation
Omololu Ogunmade

The ongoing 2014 budgeting process at the committee stage will today enter its final phase with the Senate yesterday asking various committees which legislated on sectoral allocations in the budget to present their figures to the committee for final compilation.

This came as the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) yesterday urged Nigerians not to engage in panic buying of fuel, claiming that no fewer than 200 million litres was currently in circulation nationwide.

While making the announcement on behalf of the committee, Senate President, David Mark, acting on the committee's message, gave all sub-committees handling various parts of the 2014 budget 24 hours deadline to submit their figures or lose out of consideration in the overall appraisal of the Appropriation Bill.

Mark's order yesterday followed an announcement by the Appropriation Committee, asking the sub-committees to turn in their reports before the Appropriation Committee
or risk retention of allocations made by the executive to ministries and parastatals under their oversight.

Making the announcement during yesterday's plenary, Mark said: "If all reports are not received by the end of 26 March, the committee will be forced to consider what was compiled by the executive. That is from the Vice-Chairman of Appropriation Committee. Indeed, as the vice-chairman has said, all sub-committees must submit their reports to the Appropriate Committee on March 26. Otherwise, allocations from the executive will be used as compiled."

Elucidating further on the deadline, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, Chairman, Senate Committee on Information, said the deadline was final adding that any sub-committee yet to defend its budget figures before the Appropriation Committee must do so unfailingly today to enable the Senate conclude the budgetting process fast.

He also explained that it was in Senate's bid to give every committee the ample time to defend its figures before the Appropriation Committee that it opted to stand down some items slated for consideration yesterday.

"The president has sent details of the appropriation requests and every committee, being the sub-committee of the appropriation committee and having finished their jobs, are required to defend their appropriation in front of the appropriation committee. Some committees had yet to appear before the appropriation committee to defend their figures. "Because we want to bring out the Appropriation Bill on time, tomorrow (today) has been fixed as the deadline. Every sub-committee must submit their reports and that was why we cut short our plenary today so that they will have enough time to meet with the Appropriation Committee,"Abaribe said.

Meanwhile, Executive Secretary of PPPRA, Mr. Farouk Ahmed, yesterday insisted that despite the fuel scarcity ravaging the nation, the product was available.

He also restated his earlier submission that non-payment of subsidy to marketers was responsible for scarcity of petrol as he also argued that of the 200 million litres in circulation, only 40 million litres is consumed daily.

He advised Nigerians to go about their daily duties without panic, insisting that the situation was under control.

"So, in a nutshell, we have over 200 million litres being discharged by various vessels currently as at today (yesterday). So, there is no need for any panic because we have the product there. And I can advise the public just to calm down and go about their normal businesses," Ahmed said.

However, while Senator Danjuma Goje (Gombe Central), described the scarcity in a country which produces the same product as a shame, the committee chairman, Senator Magnus Abe, said the committee would take the PPPRA boss by his word that the product was available and that there's no need for panic buying.