The leadership of the Senate might downplay celebration of the chamber’s 100 days in office, given concerns over state of the economy, insecurity, and urgent need to prepare the 2024 budget.
This emerged as pressure mounts on the Presidency to submit the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) to the National Assembly to speed up processing and passage of the budget.
The Fiscal Responsibility Act gave the President an August deadline to prepare and present the MTEF/FSP to federal lawmakers. Section 11 (b) of the Act, specifically, stipulates that the MTEF/FSP be submitted “not later than four months before commencement of the next financial year”.
During the last administration, former President Muhammadu Buhari had always presented the MTEF/FSP to the National Assembly late. It also stayed longer at the Assembly before approval.
Upon resumption next week, it was learnt that legislative attention will be paid to the question of corruption, which has increased leakages in the country’s revenue base.
Senator Sani Musa (APC, Niger State) admitted that the economy is at a critical juncture, necessitating strategic and informed policy responses. He lamented: “The country is faced with dual challenges of rising debt and insufficient revenue, which demand immediate legislative attention.” He added: “We will provide legislative platform to manage our debt judiciously and explore avenues for favourable terms and sustainable repayment simultaneously.”
Checks revealed that the Senate committee system is being reoriented to boost performance of oversight functions on Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).
Other areas of worry for the Senate include escalating debt burden, low revenue profile, and fiscal irresponsibility by some MDAs.
To this end, Senate President Godswill Akpabio directed the Committee on Finance to embark on aggressive oversight of revenue generating agencies, with a view to curbing leakages in the country.
Chairman, Senate Committee on Finance, Sani Musa, who confirmed the directive, said his panel was asked to ensure all remittances were made in accordance with provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Act.
THEGUARDIAN
