The Nigerian Senate has asked the Presidency not to blame it or its members for the delay in the passage of the nation's annual budget.
The Senate minority leader, Biodun Olujimi, in a statement on Sunday, November 11, urged the executive arm of government to stop playing politics with the annual fiscal document.
Punch reports that the Senator said it would be counter-productive to play politics with sensitive issues like the budgeting process.
Olujimi said: “The President in June this year expressed surprise during a meeting with the leadership of the National Assembly, when he was confronted with the fact that ministers and heads of federal agencies refused to defend their budget proposals before the legislative committees."
She also alleged that the statement made by the president was contrary to what he was told by his aides before the meeting started.
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“He then ordered the Secretary to the Government of the Federation to compel all heads of MDAs to immediately appear before the respective committees so that the budget could be passed," Olujimi said.
She also said that it is a well-known fact that some ministers had in the past appeared before the National Assembly committees and denied certain provisions in their respective budgets.
“In one instance, the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, denied the provision made for the purchase of computers in his ministry as stated in the budget proposal submitted to the National Assembly.
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“This kind of disconnect between budget proposals and the position of the heads of MDAs made the National Assembly to insist on budget defence by heads of MDAs. This has helped to curb the menace of what is known as budget padding," Olujimi added.
Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the Senate had expressed concern over alleged discrepancies in the 2019 elections budget figures presented by President Buhari and chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu.
The Senate committee on INEC made the observations during its meeting with the commission at the National Assembly on Wednesday, August 15.
While the INEC chairman presented a budget of N189,207,544,893.13 for the polls, Buhari had in July 17, 2018, tabled N143,512,529,455.00.
Consequently, the committee led by Senator Suleiman Nazif declared it would hold a special meeting to resolve the issue.
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