Senators and members of the House of Representatives are engaging the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun; the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo-Udoma; and 57 other officials and agencies on the 2017 budget on Monday (today) to open up the budgeting process.
Among the others expected at the deliberation are the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr. Godwin Emefiele; Minister of Works/Housing/Power, Mr. Babatunde Fashola; and the Accountant-General of the Federation, Mr. Ahmed Idris.
The officials are to discuss freely with civil society groups and other stakeholders to get their input on the N7.29tn budget.
The Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Abdulrazak Namdas, confirmed on Sunday that lawmakers initiated the idea, following the resolve of the Speaker, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, to reform the budgeting process.
Namdas, a member of the All Progressives Congress from Adamawa State, said, “This hearing is being carried out jointly by the Senate and the House of Representat0ives’ Committees on Appropriation. Essentially, we want to hear the views of as many segments of the society as possible, on the content of the budget. Many stakeholders, including those from the civil society, are coming with their views.
“This process, which was initiated by the House, will speed up the passage of the budget because we want to avoid all those controversies that trailed the 2016 budget.
“Let Nigerians come and give their input on the budget, let them also appreciate the power of appropriation, which lies with the National Assembly, particularly the House of Representatives.”
Both the Senate and the House had on January 26, referred the 2017 Appropriation Bill to their committees on appropriation after concluding the debate on the general principles.
“This public hearing (on Monday) involving stakeholders from outside the National Assembly will help guide the committees and make the process a lot more transparent and open to all Nigerians,” Namdas added.
Namdas also spoke on the 18 bills passed by the National Assembly and signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2016.
“These bills passed by the National Assembly, 17 of them came from the House and the Senate gave their concurrence in compliance with the bi-cameral legislature that we operate in Nigeria,” he said.
According to the lawmaker, 10 more bills passed by the National Assembly, eight of which originated from the House, are pending before the President.
Among the 18 bills signed into law by Buhari were the Telecommunications and Postal Offences Act (Amendment Bill), 2015; Prevention of Crimes Act (Amendment) Bill, 2015; Advertising Practitioners Act (Amendment) Bill, 2016; University of Abuja Act (Amendment) Bill, 2015; National Agricultural Development Authority Act (Amendment) Bill, 2015; and Endangered Species (Control of International Trade and Traffic) Act (Amendment Bill), 2015.
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