- The National Assembly joint committee on appropriation is expected to present a report on the 2018 N8.612tn budget to lawmakers
- Previous effort to get the appropriation bill passed reportedly failed because of the enormous volume of work before the various National Assembly committees
- The Human and Environmental Development Agenda calls on President Buhari to remove all illegal allowances inserted into the 2018 budget
The National Assembly may pass the 2018 budget on Thursday, May 3, after receiving a report on the document from its joint committee on appropriation.
The Punch reports that the joint committee on appropriation is expected to present the report on the 2018 N8.612tn budget to the National Assembly in preparation for passage of the budget.
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A federal lawmaker speaking on the expected passage of the budget said the National Assembly is under pressure to ensure the the appropriation bill is ready.
“We will be in May on Tuesday; that means the country will run out of the 2017 budget in a matter of weeks. Members have come under pressure; they have had to work very hard in the past days to ensure that the report is ready.”
“The blame of the delay in the passage of the budget is both on the Executive and partly the legislature," the lawmaker said.
The Punch stated that efforts to pass the appropriation bill on April 24 failed because of the enormous volume of work before the various National Assembly committees.
However, NAIJ.com learnt that much of the work had been tidied up for the presentation of the report to legislature on Wednesday, May 2.
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“Except another thing changes, the plan is to have the report from the Appropriation Committee on Wednesday.
“The following day, being Thursday, hopefully, the budget will be passed,” a source said.
Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has been urged to remove all illegal allowances inserted by federal lawmakers in the 2018 budget, by a human rights organisation, Human and Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA Resource Centre), Premium Times reports.
The group made the plea in a letter written to the president, which was signed by its chairman, Olanrewaju Suraju.
NAIJ.com gathers that in addition to this request, the group also wants Buhari to retrieve from the lawmakers, all funds previously collected illegally.
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Source: Naija.ng
