The Senate
yesterday uncovered a fresh budget padding of over N10 billion. The discovery
was made during the consideration of its Finance Committee’s report on the
Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS)
budget.
The Senate
indicted its Committee on Finance of collusion in the oversight function.
The budget
proposal was submitted by President Muhammadu Buhari to the Senate in July this
year. Shocked by the fresh discoveries, the lawmakers did not
pass the budget.
The Red
Chamber did not pass the budget, citing the N146,165,108, 293 and the shoddy exercise of its committee,
headed by Senator John Enoh from Cross River State.
Lawmakers also
blamed the rejection on ambiguous figures and questionable inclusion of capital
projects, which they said have become a yearly ritual.
For instance,
FIRS budgeted N960 million to buy computer equipment, N1.560 billion for
purchase of office equipment, while N440 million would go into supplies of
office materials.
Similarly,
office maintenance is to gulp N530 million while N170 million was budgeted for maintenance of
office generator.
According to
the committee’s report, N700 million was budgeted for fueling of utility
vehicles, while N750 million was earmarked for the purchase of fuel to power generating sets.
The agency
also budgeted N586 million for refreshment. N200 million was budgeted for
sporting activities.
About N446
million would be spent on training,
while N885 million will go into payment of rents for offices. Electricity will
gulp N500 million, while telephone calls will take N320 million. Internet
connection is expected to gulp N300 million and office fumigation taking a
princely N750 million.
The Senate,
while going through the committee’s report, discovered that almost every item
listed as part of capital expenditures were captured in the 2015 budget of the
agency.
Earlier in the
year, the National Assembly, particularly the House of Representatives and the
executive had a major fallout over claims that lawmakers connived with some
civil servants to pad the budget.
The
controversy eventually led to the sack of the House Chairman on Appropriation,
Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin. The padding delayed the passage of the budget until the
end of April.
But Senator
Enoh’s committee is, however, expected to reflect observations made by
lawmakers in the report and revert within one week from yesterday.
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