By Nuel Suji – The President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, has given a 24-hour deadline to the remaining 20 standing committees of the upper legislative chamber that are yet to submit their reports to the Appropriation Committee to do so.
Senate had earlier blamed the ministries, departments and agencies of government for the delay in passing the budget, accusing them of not submitting the breakdown.
Saraki, who handed down ultimatum shortly before the commencement of the plenary Thursday, declaring that the 20 committees cannot hold the senate back on the issues of budget.”
“I need to mention the committees here, because they cannot hold us back on the issues of the budget. They are hereby mandated to submit their reports to the Appropriation Committee on the 2018 Budget latest by tomorrow (today, April 13)”.
The senate president listed the committees as Committees on Defence, Army, Air Force, Navy, Industry, Federal Capital Territory, States and Local Government, Culture and Tourism, Petroleum (Downstream), Petroleum (Upstream), Niger Delta, Sustainable Development Goals, Primary Health and Communicable Diseases and Health
Others are Committees on Tertiary Institutions and TETFUND, Capital Market, Federal Roads Maintenance Agency, Works; Power, Steel Development and Metallurgy; and National Cooperation and Integration.
Consideration of the 2018 Budget of N8.612 trillion by both Chambers of the National Assembly after its presentation on November 7, 2017 by President Muhammadu Buhari had remained at committee stage since December last year.
