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| National Assembly Complex |
After weeks of delay, both chambers of
the National Assembly received a report on the 2016 budget on Tuesday
from the Senate and the House of Representatives Joint Committee on
Appropriation.
The report retained the corrected total
budget figure of N6.07tn as presented to the National Assembly by
President Muhammadu Buhari.
There were strong indications that the two chambers of the National Assembly would pass the 2016 budget today (Wednesday).
The federal lawmakers, who had earlier
slated last week for the submission of the report, postponed it because
of fresh errors they said were discovered in the fiscal document.
In the Senate, the Chairman of the
Appropriation Committee, Senator Danjuma Goje, presented the report of
the budget on the floor of the upper chamber.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on
Education (Basic), Senator Aliyu Wamakko, confirmed to one of our
correspondents that the budget would be considered and passed today
(Wednesday).
He said the Senate might possibly hold two sessions on Wednesday to enable it to pass the fiscal document.
He said, “We have perfected necessary
arrangements to ensure that the budget is considered and passed before
we proceed on recess tomorrow (Wednesday).’’
The PUNCH learnt that the
Senate would proceed on Easter Break on Wednesday as a result of the
trial of the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, which resumes at the Code
of Conduct Tribunal on Thursday.
In the House of Representatives, investigations by The PUNCH indicated that many lawmakers raised doubts as to whether the report contained padded provisions.
Members reportedly “grumbled” that there
was no verifiable information on the several meetings on the budget
held between the National Assembly’s joint committee and the officials
of the executive, led by the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun.
“There were several meetings the officials held with the executive in their bid to clean up the errors in the budget.
“Those meetings did not provide details
of the outcome; members still cannot vouch for this report, that it does
not contain padded provisions in spite of the efforts made to clean up
the budget”, a National Assembly official disclosed to The PUNCH.
It was gathered that the suspicion of
padded provisions was the “real reason” the joint committee failed twice
to produce the report of the budget before Tuesday.
The development confirmed an exclusive report by The PUNCH last week that fresh discrepancies were delaying the submission of the report.
Findings showed that in a bid to bring
the matter under control, the various caucuses of the House held
marathon meetings up to Monday night, where the members were said to
have been briefed on the need to accept the budget so that government
activities could move forward.
It was learnt that the meetings were
rounded off by a meeting of the leadership of the House on Monday night
and another meeting on Tuesday morning few hours to the commencement of
sitting. The Speaker of the House, Mr. Yakubu
Dogara, presided over the leadership meeting, which also had in
attendance the House Leader, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, as well as other
principal officers.
The Chairman, House Committee on Media
and Public Affairs, Mr. Abdulrazak Namdas, claimed that there were no
new discrepancies in the budget.
“There is no problem at all; the report has been laid,” he stated.
He admitted that a budget could not be
“100 per cent perfect”, adding that the final report was the painstaking
effort of the joint committee.
The House had planned to receive the
report on Monday and pass the budget, but had to suspend the
consideration in honour of a member, who died over the weekend. The late member, Mr. Musa Onwana, represented Nasarawa State in the House. Dogara, who presided over the session, only allowed the report to be laid due to “overriding national interest.”
He called that the House should adjourned till Wednesday (today) for the consideration and possible passing of the budget.
Members later observed a minute’s silence in honour of their late colleague and also prayed for the repose of his soul.
Source: PUNCH.
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