BREAKING NEWS, Politics
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The National Assembly will need two weeks to provide the details of the 2016 budget to President Muhammadu Buhari
Nigerians who are hoping to see the beginning of the implementation of Budget 2016 may have to wait longer. The National Assembly has said that it will need two weeks to provide the details of the budget it passed last week Wednesday as requested by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Buhari had declined to sign the budget until he sees the details which the National Assembly did not include in the document sent to him through the Office of the Clerk to the National Assembly, Salisu Maikasuwa.
The National Assembly passed a budget of N6.06trn on Wednesday last week, reducing the original budget of N6.07 trillion Buhari sent to them in December 2015.
Jibrin Abdulmumin, chairman, House Committee on Appropriation, told journalists in Abuja, that it was not abnormal for the President to withhold assent to a bill until he sees the details. He added that with the series of challenges faced in the course of working on the budget, it would be very difficult for anybody to start accusing the National Assembly.
According to him, the 2016 Appropriation Bill is the most challenging the National Assembly had ever passed in its recent history because of its many controversies and omissions. Since the budget was brought to the National Assembly late, it was necessary the committee took its time to avoid any mistake. The general public should note that the Medium Term Expenditure Framework, MTEF, and 2016 budget proposal came to NASS very late, he said.
“A lot of dusts were raised over different versions of the budget circulated in the National Assembly; again some ministers disowned the content of the budget during their defense,” Jibrin said, adding that amidst the inconsistencies and discrepancies associated with the budget, the National Assembly had been deeply engrossed in perfecting the anomalies.
The National Assembly ironed out the wrinkles and stretched the twists inherent in the 2016 Appropriation Bill to ensure that the nation moved forward without stagnation of administrative processes.
“In view of the inconsistencies, errors, omissions and padding that characterised the 2016 budget, it will be unpatriotic of NASS to forward the details without being extra-careful, meticulous and cautious in discharging its duties. This is to ensure we do not make the same mistake that the executive made,” Jibrin said.
“We would take a week or two to work on the details. We are doing the final harmonisation checks here and there. That should not take more than a week or two,” he said.
— Mar. 31, 2016 @ 9:15 GMT
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