ABUJA (Sundiata Post) – Twenty-four hours after the Conference Committee of the Senate and House of Representatives agreed on $53 per barrel of crude oil benchmark, the Senate President, Senator David Mark, on Thursday expressed his displeasure at the decision of the Senate members of the committee to fix the crude oil benchmark.
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The Senate and House had each settled for $52 and $54, respectively, which generated some conflict opinions, resulting in both chambers needing to raise a Conference Committee to harmonise the difference.
The committee met on Wednesday, and agreed to recommend a midpoint of $53 per barrel of crude oil benchmark to the two chambers of the National Assembly.
But when the Chairman of the Conference Committee on 2015-2017 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP), Senator Ahmed Mohammed Makarfi, delivered the report, Mark noted that it was not the duty of the committee to settle for a neutral crude oil benchmark.
He cautioned the 11 senators led by Makarfi not to make the mistake of using their own discretion to settle for a crude oil benchmark other than the recommendations for the Conference by either of the two chambers in the future.
“It has not happened in the past that the committee should fix its crude oil benchmark. It’s either you adopt the Senate’s version, or that of the House; you are not supposed to fix the price at your own discretion. We will let it go today, but you should not let it happen again in the future,” Mark warned.
The Conference Committee also adopted the Senate version of the exchange rate of N190 to $1 in the 2015 Budget as against the exchange rate of N198 to $1 that was recommended by the House.
Makarfi also reported that the House version of the Statutory Transfers, which recommended the reduction of the transfers from N411.85 billion to N368.27 billion.
This is against the recommendation of the Senate, which recommended the reduction of the transfers from N411.85 billion to N363.27 billion.
Also adopted was the House version of the Statutory Allocation to the National Assembly, which recommended an increase from N115 billion to N120 billion.
The Conference Committee equally adopted the House version that the cost of oil production paid out by the Federation be reduced by N200 billion for 2015.
It also called for the savings to be directed towards the capital expenditure.
Earlier at Plenary, Mark read a letter from President Goodluck Jonathan on the nomination of Hon. Justice Aminu Sanusi as the Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
Citing Section 231(2) of the 1999 Constitution, Jonathan said: “It is my hope that this request will receive the usual expeditious consideration and approval of the distinguished members of the Senate”.