Guardian

THE National Assembly may slam a budget performance benchmark of 80 per cent on the Federal Government, as a foil against recurring low implementation saga assailing budgets over the years.

Indeed, the legislators plan to enforce the benchmarks in this year’s budget.

A member of the House of Representatives, Andrew Uchendu, Uchendu representing Ikwerre/Emuoha Federal Constituency and former Chairman of the South-South caucus of the Federal House of Representatives, gave this hint to journalists in Port Harcourt yesterday.

Uchendu said that the National Assembly is concerned about the poor implementation of the country’s budget. And based on this, he cautioned that federal lawmakers would not accept a 50 per cent performance of the 2013 budget.

According to him, anything short of 80 percent of the budget implementation will not be tolerated.

“If the government implements the budget up to 70 per cent or 80 per cent, it is a good job. But 50 per cent implementation of the national budget is unacceptable. We (National Assembly) have enough powers to force the executive to implement the budget to the fullest and the National Assembly is only carrying out its constitutional role by asking how the funds are applied” he said.

The law maker, who could barely conceal his dissatisfaction with deplorable state of the East West road, explained that it was heartrending that a strategic road like that could be allowed to be in a state of disrepair for so long irrespective of the immense contribution of the Niger Delta to the economical growth of the country.

Uchendu tasked the executive aim of government, as a mark of responsibility should declare the road an emergency while taking steps to urgently address the problem of poor roads in the country.

“I am from the Niger Delta region representing the Ikwerre people.  I am weeping, and I have said so on the floor of the House. If there is any offence my people have committed that is responsible for the treatment we should be forgiven. The road is impassable. This is the road that bears the whole burden of oil exploration in the country. Mr President owes the people of the country a duty to repair the roads and in particular this East

West road” he said.

On the contentious Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), the lawmaker asked those who have remained vehemently opposed to its passage to visit oil-producing communities in the Niger Delta region in order to appreciate the predicament of the people who reside there and the adverse effect of oil exploration.

“It is regrettable that some of us who express one view or the other on the issue of compensation have not bothered to go to some of these oil producing communities and the level of environmental degradation.”

I assure you that those opposed to that aspect of the PIB would change their mind if they travel to the oil-bearing communities. The communities did not commit any offence and nobody is saying that the larger society should not benefit from the oil in the region,” said Uchendu.