The highpoint of yesterday’s debate was the allegation by some Senators that the Minister of Finance, Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is imposing the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank economic policies on Nigeria.
Most Senators across party line also called for a substantial increase in the capital allocation. They echoed that the allocation is grossly inadequate and inimical to the transformation agenda of the present administration.
Expectedly, the All Progressives Congress (APC) senators, in their contributions, insisted that the Appropriation Bill be returned to the Executive for lacking necessary indices for rapid socio-economic development.
However, after the Leader of the Senate, Victor Ndoma-Egba moved the motion for the commencement of debate on the Appropriation Bill and was seconded by the Minority Leader, George Akume, the President of the Senate, David Mark appealed to his colleagues to make their contributions from a nationalistic stand point, and not from party leanings.
“Let us look at this budget from a national perspective, rather than political party perspective,” Mark appealed.
Opening the debate, Senate Deputy Leader, Abdul Ningi (Bauchi Central) cautioned against Nigeria depending on the policies of the IMF, the World Bank and other advanced economies, suggesting that Nigeria should evolve indigenous economic policies that would impact positively on the economy and the citizenry.
He hinged his argument on the premise that western economies were collapsing, unlike the ‘home-grown economies of India and China, which according to him were waxing stronger by the day.
In his contribution, Prof Olusola Adeyeye (Osun Central, APC) accused the Finance Minister of confusing Nigerians with foreign economic Jargons, which he sarcastically called ‘Okonjonomics’, saying that such have no positive impact on the domestic economy and lives of Nigerians.
Similarly, Senator Smart Adeyemi (Kogi West, PDP) stressed that Okonjo-Iweala should be told in clear terms that the economic policies of the IMF and the World Bank could not work in Nigeria.
