By Christiana Ekpa
The House of Representatives on Thursday commenced debate on the general principle of the 2024 Appropriation Bill submitted to the National Assembly on Tuesday by President Bola Tinubu.
Leading the debate on the general principles of the bill, Julius Ihonvbare, the House leader said the 2023 budget draws attention to the renewed hope agenda, pointing Nigeria to where the country was coming from and where it is heading.
He said the attention of the budget is on issues of education, security and health as well as infrastructure was commendable
According to him, before the last House passed the Secondary Education Commission bill which was signed into law, secondary schools in the country were marred by infrastructural decay which will now be a thing of the past with the coming into existence of the Commission which has been accommodated in the 2024 budget.
Ihonvbare called for reform of fiscal responsibility and public service to address the challenges in the system to perform maximally while commending the commitment of the government to debt servicing.
The House Leader said the budget is all about how to make the nation better so that “those coming behind us will not curse us in the grave.
In his submission, Reps Ahmed Jaha said capital allocation and contribution to the development fund of the nation was commendable, adding that as a developing nation, providing a substantial amount of money in the budget shows the seriousness of the government about investing in development projects.
He said the decision of the President to pay attention to the diversification of the economy was also commendable, adding that it was time the country beak away from its mono-economic nature and invest in other sectors like solid minerals, and agriculture.
Hon. Stanley Adedeji said the budget will move the nation forward, adding that members of the parliament have a responsibility to ensure that it is well implemented.
Hon. Yusuf Adamu Gagdi said the budget was the foundation of the renewed hope agenda of the Tinubu administration, adding that the work of the parliament will either make or mar the implementation.
H said the President’s presentation was a clear testimony that this was not the time to borrow money to fund personal expenditure and ask the parliament to provide robust oversight, saying if that is not done, the expectations of the Nigerian people will not be met.
Sada Soli commended the decision of the government to collaborate with the states of the federation in the implementation of the budget, saying the lack of collaboration has been one of the major problems with budgeting in the country.
He said with such collaboration, the government at all levels will be able to eliminate areas of duplication for the effective delivery of development projects.
The Lawmaker said this was the first time the government was including in the budget a conscious decision to block leakages in the system, adding that if leakages are not blocked, effective implementation of the budget will not be possible.
