The Senate on Wednesday resumed debate on the 2008 Appropriation Bill with most senators asking for clarifications on its policy thrust and the N444.6bn voted for security and Niger Delta.
The Senate Leader, Senator Teslim Folarin, led the debate with a presentation on Tuesday.
Senator Heineken Lokpobiri (PDP Bayelsa) said that the budget was not prepared to benefit the people of Bayelsa State and the Niger Delta.
He said, �If you take the budget details together, you will discover that the whole amount (N444.6bn) is meant to buy arms and ammunition for the Army and the Navy.
�It is not the amount of arms and ammunition you have that will guarantee peace but the level of development.�
Senator Ikechukwu Obiora (PDP Anambra) faulted the amount appropriated for capital expenditure.
He said, �The amount proposed for capital expenditure is insignificant. N29bn is what is required to be spent immediately in the South-East if the roads there are not to collapse.
�The N79bn for road construction is laughable.�
He said the nation would benefit if the budget benchmark was reviewed upwards from $53 to $55.
Obiora also faulted the proposal by the executive to rely on public-private partnership to fund the construction of the Second Niger Bridge.
�The people of the South-East find it unacceptable that the Second Niger Bridge is going to be constructed through public-private partnership. It is the responsibility of the Federal Government to fully and wholly fund the project,� he said.
Senator Nimi Barigha- Amange (PDP Bayesla) said, �I went through the figures and from the breakdown of it, it did not contain Niger Delta but Army, Navy and other sundry matters.
�The issue of Niger Delta is not Army or Navy but lack of development and if that issue is taking care of, I don�t think we need Army, Navy and police.�
He said what the people of the Niger Delta needed was development and not military presence.
�It was important for the executive to explain to Nigerians the percentage of the N444.6bn voted for security that is meant for development.
�My people in Niger Delta need development and not the presence of the Army or the Navy.�
Senator Ayogu Eze (PDP Enugu) urged his colleagues to �pass only the budget we can implement as we shall be held responsible for implementation and non-implementation of the budget.�
Senator Bode Olajumoke, who is also the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Navy, asked for an upward review of the allocation to the Navy.
�The Navy is expected to protect the Niger Delta area and whatever projection we are making is unachievable unless we have stability in Niger Delta. We need to secure the area,� he said.
Olajumoke also called for an improvement in the allocation to education. He said education was pivotal to the attainment of Vision 2020.
Olajumoke also drew the attention of the executive to the importance of agriculture. He said the Soviet Union collapsed largely because it could no longer feed its people.
He said communism had survived in China because it took agriculture seriously.
Senator Ahmed Makarfi, who chairs the Committee on Finance, called for a review of the benchmark of the budget. He also made a case for the diversification of Nigeria�s revenue base to ease the dependence on oil revenues.
The senators, who spoke on the general principles of the budget on Wednesday included Ahmed Makarfi, Ayim Ude; George Sekibo; Grace Bent, Andrew Babalola; Adefemi Kila Murudeen Musa, Joel Ikenya, Joseph Akaageger, Suleiman Adokwe, Simeon Oduoye, and Kaleb Zagi.
Source: The Punch