The two chambers of National Assembly deep in a rift with President Goodluck Jonathan over the 2013 budget framework, got the support of some governors on Friday, as the state chief executives spurned the $75 per barrel oil bench mark in the Federal Government’s budget proposal
Jonathan had on October 10, presented N4.9trn budget which the lawmakers faulted on many fronts.
While the House of Representatives insisted on satisfactory execution of the 2012 budget before deliberating on that of 2013, it also said it would adopt $80 oil bench mark, while the Senate voted for $78.
Both chambers said the $75 oil benchmark was unrealistic, given infrastructural challenges the country faced, and the need for states to have money.
In separate interviews, Governors Kayode Fayemi, Abimbola Ajimobi and Abdulfatah Ahmed, of Ekiti, Oyo and Kwara states, respectively, said it was wrong to accumulate excess crude revenue, when the states were yearning for funds for development.
Ajimobi said, “In federalism, there is autonomy and the states will need more money to run their affairs. There is no need to accumulate funds when there is development or infrastructural challenges in the states.
“The Sovereign Wealth Fund is indeed at the detriment of development in the states.
“Oyo State is not in support of a situation where the states would go cap in hand to Abuja and look up to the Federal Government for money.
“Presently Oyo is being short-changed because we have more civil servants and more bills to pay, and we were being given lesser than most states that are smaller.
“There should be a redistribution of resources to address the present irregularity. Oil as it is, is a commonwealth, and as such, the money should be evenly distributed apart from the preference given to the oil producing states.”
The governor spoke through his commissioner for Information, Mr. Bosun Oladele.
Similarly, Fayemi, through his Commissioner of Information, Mr. Funminiyi Afuye, said, the state preferred the $ 80 benchmark proposed by the House of Representatives.
He argued that the states needed more funds than what the Federal Government was making available to them, stressing that developmental issues were located in the states rather than at the centre.
He said, “In the first instance, the whole idea of Excess Crude Oil Account and the so-called Sovereign Wealth Fund is still mired in controversy.
“The proper thing is for all revenue receipts to be paid into the federation account and shared using appropriate revenue sharing formula.
“But because we are operating ‘feeding bottle federalism,’ the Federal Government has arrogated to itself the duty of keeping funds, albeit unconstitutionally, on behalf of the states when indeed the developmental issues that require the funds are located in the states.
“Therefore, before the finally resolution of inequity against the states, the benchmark of $80 by House of Representatives is preferred.
Ahmed also said he supported the position of the House.
“We are in support of the $80 per barrel benchmark for the 2013 budget. This makes more economic sense and will make more money available for spending for the needs of the country.”
Ahmed who spoke to SUNDAY PUNCH through his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communication, Dr, Muyideen Akorede, however, advocated amicable resolution of the face-off between the Executive and National Assembly on the matter.
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