By Ezrel Tabiowo
Abuja
Contrary to speculations that the 2015 budget may be passed by the Senate this week, the upper chamber yesterday deferred passage of same when it adjourned till March 31, 2015, for the
Presidential and National Assembly elections slated for March 28.
This comes just as the upper chamber approved the increase of the Diaspora Bond from $100 million to $300 million.
The Senate had last week approved the report of the National Assembly Conference Committee on the 2015-2017 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) which recommended US$53 per barrel of crude oil benchmark and exchange rate of N190 to US$1.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriation, Ahmed Maccido, had also on March 1, 2015, assured that the National Assembly would pass the 2015 appropriation bill in two weeks’ time.
But the Senate, in an unexpected move by the Majority Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba, moved a motion for adjournment, saying the decision was “to enable members of the Senate who are contesting elections to run on their campaigns and participate in the election.”
The motion was seconded by Ahmed Lawan (Yobe North).
The Senate also approved the report of the Joint Committee on Local and Foreign Debts and Finance on the increase in the amount, from US$100 million to US$300 million to be raised through the Diaspora Bond from the international capital market.
Chairman of the Joint Committee on Local and Foreign Debts and Finance, Senator Ehigie Uzamere (Edo South), in his presentation of the report, explained that the US$100million Diaspora Bond as passed in the 2012 – 2014 Borrowing Plan was insufficient and would deny many interested Nigerians in the Diaspora.
Justifying the 200 per cent increase in the bond, Uzamere added that the increment was in line with the Public Debt Management Strategy.
According to him, besides accommodating more Nigerians in the Diaspora who have interest to invest in the development of the country, increasing the Diaspora Bond would also be used to fund critical infrastructures in the country, including the second Niger Bridge, the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, as well as infrastructure for the Abuja Medical City.