House Of Reps Prepares To Re-Examine 2016 Budget

The House of Representatives in Nigeria says it is prepared to re-examine the 2016 budget to ensure that the appropriation bill is a workable document.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Honourable Yakubu Dogara, hinted of the lawmakers’ preparedness after a closed door session on Wednesday.

At the meeting, the lawmakers discussed the 2016 budget and the disagreements that trailed its passage.

Addressing reporters after the meeting, the spokesman of the House, Representative, Abdulrazak Namdas, said the House was yet to receive any formal communications from the President regarding any concern with the budget.

He said the speaker would meet with the President to identify possible areas of concern.

After the National Assembly returned the scrutinised and approved budget to the executive, there were reports that the budget had been distorted, with some items missing while fresh items were added.

One of such items that have become controversial is the Lagos-Calabar Rail Project, which reports quote the executive as saying that it was included in the budget sent to the National Assembly.

The National Assembly had on different occasions dismissed the claims, saying that the project was not added to the budget submitted to it by President Muhammadu Buhari in December 2015.

‘Back And Forth’

To clarify the issues, the Ministry of Budget And Planning came out with its position on the controversies surrounding the 2016 budget.

The ministry in a statement said the President had not taken a position on the budget after receiving the budget details from the National Assembly on April 7.

It further confirmed that there were indeed some errors in the initial budget proposal sent to the National Assembly by the President in December.

To remedy the situation, the Senate on Tuesday asked the executive to include the disputed Lagos-Calabar Rail project in a supplementary budget and forward it to the National Assembly.

Briefing journalists in Abuja, Senate Spokesman Aliyu Abubakar said the Senate is ready and willing to consider a supplementary budget from the executive which would include the rail project.

There has been a ‘back and forth’ between the executive and the National Assembly over allegations that a 60 billion Naira Lagos-Calabar Rail Project was removed from the 2016 budget.