THE House of Representatives, yesterday, insisted that until the Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, Ms Arunma Oteh, was fired, the commission would continue to enjoy zero budget allocation.
Addressing journalists on activities of the House in the last one year, Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Zakari Mohammed, said:”We will not touch her budget until she is sacked. We have done our findings and we have made our recommendations. We will always have a meeting point. It is like a child and his parents having a quarrel, they both must meet somewhere.
”We and Oteh are at a meeting point now and as you are aware, it was the House resolution which has the force of the law.”
Mohammed explained that the House and Senate were on the same page on the issue.
On the endorsed 2013 N4.987 trillion budget, Mohammed said the 2012 budget components would not run over to 2013, saying: “If we allow that, it would affect capital projects in the budget.
”The $79 benchmark was agreed upon by both chambers because we know it is possible as the excess will be used to settle local debts. This development will go a long way in boosting the private sector of our economy. “
Reacting to a question on why the Millenium Development Goals, MDGs, budget was approved, despite the failure of the promoters to defend the budget, Mohammed said: “MDGs are global things and Nigeria is a signatory to them. We will be failing in our duty if we fail to appropriate money for them. “