There is no doubt that Budget 2014 will underperform, no thanks to the bitter exchanges by politicians who are unwilling to resolve their differences in the common interest of Nigerians. Presently there is no sign of truce or any indication that the budget will soon be passed, with January coming to an end. For instance, the Senate continued its deliberation over the budget January 29 with most senators demanding to know the level of implementation of last year’s budget.

While the senators were considering the general principles of the budget, David Mark, Senate President, urged the senators to look at the bill from a national perspective rather than see it from a political party perspective. But his colleagues insisted that the fundamental question of how the 2013 budget performed must be asked before any meaningful work could be done on the 2014 budget. It was the general opinion of the senators that the 2012 and 2013 budgets were poorly implemented.

Opposition forces in the National Assembly have also continued to frustrate early passage of the budget, with the All Progressives Congress, APC, representatives saying publicly they would not support it. Hence the consideration of the budget was stepped down on Tuesday by the House of Representatives for consideration of the Report of the adhoc Committee on the alteration of the Constitution.

APC lawmakers have not disguised their intention to continue to protest what they called ‘the culture of impunity, immorality and illegality by this government.’  “We will not support a budget that does nothing for the people we represent. We will not rubber stamp a budget that seeks to borrow more money at ridiculous rates and further impoverish the country. Indeed we refuse to support a budget that comes in with a huge deficit,” said Femi Gbajabiamila, minority leader, House of Representatives.