A Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lawmaker, Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe of Abia State, has described the 2018 Budget as a “fictitious and imaginary document dead on arrival”.

Faulting the N8.6 trillion fiscal bill, in his contribution during Tuesday plenary, Abaribe premised his statement on the fact that “nothing was done in 2017.”

The Leader of the Senate, Ahmed Lawan of Yobe State, immediately stood up to counter the statement made by his colleague under a point of order.

Lawan said: “To call a document presented to this House as fictitious is totally unparliamentary.

“I raise this point of order with the understanding that my brother, friend and colleague would see reason to withdraw this word (fictitious) and use anything that is parliamentarily acceptable.”

The Deputy President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, who presided over plenary, advised Sen. Abaribe accordingly saying: “We have agreed to keep the language clean.”

However, Abaribe maintained his stance. He said: “I am just quoting the Senate Leader in his speech, ‘The 2018 budget is designed to consolidate on the achievements of the 2016 and 2017 budget’.

“What was done in 2017 when less than 15% of that budget was released? Nothing was done. That was why I said the 2018 Budget is fictitious. If that is the word that the Senate Leader is bothered about, I withdraw the word ‘fictitious’ and say that the 2018 budget is totally imaginary because nothing was done in 2017. That is a fact that we all know.

“In the leader’s speech, he said that there was so much money that was received in 2017 and therefore, there is an estimate of N11 trillion to be gotten. But we know that as at last week, the total receivables that this government has got was one-tenth of what was stated publicly.”

Explaining further, the PDP Senator said: “In what sense will the 2018 budget be predicated on an assumption that the facts have already been destroyed? You are assuming 11 trillion, yet, getting one trillion. That is why I said that the 2018 budget is imaginary.

“Rather than debate this that has no basis in reality, we may just continue to beg this government to be very specific in the indication of the assumptions underlined in the budget. The assumptions are totally wrong and off the mark. Therefore, the 2018 budget is already dead on arrival.”

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