Senate has adjourned plenary till February 17 and referred the 2015 budget to its committees on Finance and Appropriation for further amendments. After deliberations on the bill which was presented by Senate Leader Victor Ndoma-Egba, the lawmakers agreed that $65 crude oil benchmark was not feasible especially with falling price of oil globally. Senators who spoke extensively on the bill also accused government agencies for non-remittance of their revenue as captured by the Fiscal Responsibility Act. In his contribution, Senator Olubunmi Adetumbi, pointed out that the 2015 appropriation bill is a deficit budget with unrealistic projections.
On his part, Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu who presided over the session, urged the relevant committees to ensure that all revenue items are captured, stressing the need for federal government to explore other ways of revenue generation.
As the global price of crude oil continues its downward trend, the senate has stepped up government’s effort in diversifying the economy by adopting the conference committee report on Federal Capital Territory Internal Revenue Board. The bill which was presented on the floor by Senator Smart Adeyemi, seeks to create an internal revenue board for the FCT in order to increase its own revenue. Deputy Senate Persident Ike Ekweremadu said the introduction of the bill was a welcome development.
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