The Minister of Finance Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is not telling Nigerians the truth about the basis for pegging crude oil price benchmark at $75 dollars per barrel in the 2013 budget, Chairman House of Representatives committee on Finance, Rep Abdulmumin Jibrin has said.
Speaking to Daily Trust yesterday in Abuja, Jirbin (PDP, Kano) maintained that government officials including the finance minister and Director General of the Budget Office, Dr. Bright Okogu were deliberately distorting facts on the benchmark price.
The House had on October 10th, 2012 jerked up the bench mark from $75 proposed by President Goodluck Jonathan to $80 dollars per barrel when they passed the 2013-2015 Medium Term Expenditure Frame Work and Fiscal Strategy paper.
However, 24 hours later on Wednesday October 10th, Jonathan laid the 2013 budget estimate before the Joint session of the National Assembly in which he again, proposed $75 as bench mark.
But Jibrin said the green chamber will not go back on the issue of $80 oil benchmark because the $5 difference will be used to finance the huge budget deficit of over N1 trillion by cutting domestic borrowing from N600 billion to N200 billion.
Daily Trust