Members of the House of Representatives have kicked against the continuous payment of fuel subsidy and high debt profile in the country.
This is even as the House passed for second reading, the 2023 appropriation Bill.
The House also said that the two issues were the major factors crippling the nation’s economy.
Chairman, House Committee on Rules and Business, Abubakar Fulata, read the breakdown of the budget before the House at plenary in Abuja on Wednesday.
The lawmakers, while debating the general principles of the N20.5 trillion proposed 2023 appropriation Bill decried the projections by which the appropriation bill was predicted, describing it as “untenable and unrealistic.”
Leader of the House, Alhassan Ado-Doguwa, while leading the debate on the issue of subsidy said the house passed an unprecedented bill to address the issue of subsidy, adding that Nigeria can now go into full withdrawal of subsidy.
He said that the funding provided in the security budget was to address the security concerns in the country, adding that it would improve security.
Ado-Doguwa also said the recent strike by the ASUU was also a concern to Nigerians, adding that the leadership of the House had been able to resolve the impasse.
Deputy Minority Leader, Toby Okechukwu, commended President Muhammadu Buhari for bringing the budget at the right time, adding, “the things the budget did not contain were very significant.”
He, however, expressed worry over the level of borrowing and that the debt servicing Nigeria would do in 2023 was huge.
Okechukwu also said, “the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) presupposed that subsidy should have ended by now.”
He added that including subsidy in the budget was a breach of the PIA Act and that time is of the essence.
“The House should do its job. The government does not have the courage to undertake subsidy withdrawal at this time.”
Chief Whip, Mohammed Monguno, while justifying the need to borrow said, “our debt is still within the sustainable power and there is no cause for alarm.”
On the personnel cost, the lawmakers urged President Buhari to implement the resolutions of the Oronsaye report as “too much is expended on personnel cost.”
The lawmakers also insisted on the need to block revenue leakages, adding, “the government Is being shortchanged billions of naira due to these leakages in ministries, departments and agencies.”
