Nigeria House of Representatives is determined to repudiate the Federal Government’s plan to remove fuel subsidy.
House of Representatives spokesman, Zakari Mohammed, stated, ““The status quo is maintained. We have not endorsed subsidy removal. The House of Representatives has not endorsed subsidy removal. And we are saying that we have not brought it to the fore. And this issue will come up when the budget is here.
We have taken a decision; we are not taking out subsidy. Definitely, subsidy will have to be in the budget. It has to be in the budget. That’s the thing. The House of Representatives stands on that fact. We are not going to vote for subsidy removal because there are key indicators, as we have said.
We have given those conditions – that our refineries should function. And there are a number of other issues that must be tackled. And these issues are not the type that you just wake up one day and say they are already fixed up.”
“So, for us in the House of Representatives, we have not debated and taken a decision on it. So, to assume that the House is in this conspiracy of silence on the issue of subsidy is very wrong.”
“Somebody will be tempted to say that we are not in a war situation. So, why will Defence take such an amount in the budget? The budget should be tailored towards development; some money could have been moved from defence to areas that will stimulate the economy.”
“On the alleged non-adherence to the Fiscal Responsibility Act by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Nigeria Ports Authority and others who do not bring their budget to the National Assembly, such acts would not be condoned by the National Assembly. It is even criminal for any MDA not to bring their budget here. You can’t do extra-budgetary spending.
That’s been our problem – our budget is always being crippled with extra-budgetary spending that is not being properly captured. Every expenditure of government must be captured within the mainframe of the nation’s budget.”” What are you thinking?
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