The National Assembly has said the 2016 Appropriation Bill will be passed into law on March 17.
The Chairmen, Senate and House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation, Senator Danjuma Goje and Hon. Jibrin Abdulmu, in in a joint press briefing yesterday, that reports from both chambers would be laid on March 16. On the 17th, the reports will be considered and passed.
Senator Goje said the two chambers have interacted with the various Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs), adding that a lot of work has been put into the 2016 budget proposals.
He said: “The various sub committees of the two chambers have interacted with their various respective MDAs. The Committees have produced their reports and all the Committees of the two chambers have fully submitted their reports.
“We have been working round the clock at the same time and at the weekends and we will continue to do that until we finish the compilation of our reports,” adding that the essence of the press conference is to give Nigerians a progress report.
Senator Jibrin said the reports from the various sub committees will align with the National Assembly guidelines.
He said: “After all consultation with the leadership of the House and Senate, we can confirm to you that all things being equal, we should be able to lay our report of the 2016 Appropriation bill before the House and the Senate on the 16th of March and the consideration, hopefully should be done on the 17th.
“So it is safe for us to conclude that the 2016 Appropriation Bill will be passed on the 17th of March 2016.
“We are going to open in the next few days consultation with the relevant stakeholders in this process, most especially the executive arm of government.
“ Particularly in the case of the House, we are going to engage the Minister of Budget and Planning, Minister of Finance, DG Budget Office. Most importantly, we are working hand in hand with the Senate and things are looking up; we are putting in our best on a daily basis.”
The Budget passage was previously postponed by the National Assembly because of various discrepancies in the appropriation document by the two chambers.
Source: The Nation
