Worried by poor state of infrastructural development in Nigeria, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila has presented a legislative proposal he termed “economic stimulus bill”.
The bill which scaled second reading on Wednesday seeks to, for the next 10 years, set aside 40 percent of the nation’s annual budget for capital projects, to which only about 20 percent is being allocated.
The further seek to create some forms of monitoring process, to ensure implementation and enforcement by providing that upon commencement, the Accountant General of the Federation shall submit quarterly reports to the National Assembly on the performance of the Capital Budget and must be submitted within two weeks after the end of a corresponding quarter.
According to Minority Leader of the House, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu, who led debate on its general principles, on behalf of the speaker, the bill “shall be in force for a period of ten years after which there shall be a review by the National Assembly”, while a penalty of 5 years imprisonment or a fine of N50 Million or both for violation or any attempt by any person to frustrate the implementation of the Bill when enacted as law.
He said, “This stringent punitive measure suggests that the current state of infrastructure and economy are not such to be handled with kids gloves”, adding that production capacity increase gives rise to increase in goods and services produced in the individual economy activities, which when aggregated, will on the long run increase the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The lawmaker argued, “capital projects attract more investments, create jobs and reduce unemployment. Capital projects lead to the empowerment of more people. More people will pay tax to the government thereby empowering the government with more revenue to reinvest in new projects”.
The bill enjoyed robust debate from several members, before it was passed for second reading through voice votes, and subsequently referred to the joint committee on finance and appropriations for further legislative action.
