House of Reps Impeachment Threat Latest: Senate threatens showdown with Federal Government over 2012 budget implementation

The Senate yesterday described the implementation of the 2012 budget as ‘very poor’ and threatened to tackle the executive arm of government over the issue.

An interactive session scheduled with members of the Federal Executive Council was postponed yesterday due to the absence of the Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala who had been invited to explain, among other issues, her claim that the Federal Government had implemented 56 per cent of the budget.

The House of Representatives had earlier in the week put the level of implementation at 34 percent. But the Senate yesterday said documents from the office of the Accountant General of the Federation shows that only 21. 56 percent of the budget had been implemented.

The finance minister, who was invited by the Senate but failed to turn up for the second time yesterday, is also to explain insinuations by the executive that implementation of the appropriation act was being hindered by the constituency projects which the National Assembly built into the document.

Yesterday, a delegation of the Federal Executive Council led by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim, was turned back by the Senate and asked to return tomorrow (Thursday) with the finance minister or the Senate will be forced to summon her.

“I have the mandate of my colleagues to adjourn this public hearing to enable the minister of finance to show up. So, this public hearing is adjourned to 1.00pm on Thursday and the minister for finance is expected to be here no matter the circumstance. So, we have to do everything possible to get here on Thursday by 1pm,” Deputy Senate President Ike Ikweremadu said.

The Deputy Senate President who represented the Senate President, David Mark, at the hearing of the Senate Joint Committees on Appropriation, Finance and Public Accounts, said the pace of implementation of the 2012 budget would not be condoned.