2018 budget defining element of Buhari’s administration – Saraki

Senate President Bukola Saraki yesterday said the implementation of the 2018 Budget will be a defining element of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

Speaking when President Buhari presented the 2018 budget before a joint session of the National Assembly, he said the budget must be thoroughly implemented for Nigerians to feel it impact positively.

“Without doubt, this recovery benefitted from greater policy coordination, prioritization and passage of economic reform bills, but more importantly, the resilience of the Nigerian people.

“Having said that, it is pertinent to note that the implementation of the 2018 Budget - how it is implemented - will be a defining element of this Administration. We must therefore continue to work together to steady the ship of this recovery,” he said.

Saraki said as the country gradually recovers, it is important to reset the fundamentals that drive the economy, “so we do not slide back into recession. We must reassess the relationship between oil and our economy.

“Oil prices are gradually inching up, but that is no reason for complacency in our diversification drive. We must grow our economy away from oil - as well as the need to increase non-oil revenue generation and collection,” he said.

Stressing the need for the review of extant laws guiding the operation of some Government enterprises, he called for more determined effort on the part of the Executive, to plug leakages.

“This sector alone accounts for over 40 trillion naira in valuation, of which less than 400 billion naira is remitted as revenue to the Consolidated Federation Account. This is not acceptable. We need to vigorously address this area,” he said.

He said the budgets of parastatals and agencies are meant to be submitted with the budget presentation, as stipulated by the Constitution.

“We must work to ensure that these are passed by the end of the year and sanction those parastatals and agencies that fail to submit their budget along with the 2018 budget, and deny access to capital expenditure unless budget is passed,” he said.

On borrowing, he said: “We appreciate the need to spend, Mr. President. However, we must ensure that our borrowing is targeted at productive projects that will stimulate the economy. We must ensure real value-formoney in projects funded by borrowing, and make doubly sure that the projects are not overpriced.”