The committee set up by the Presidency and the National Assembly to look at the “grey areas” raised by President Muhammadu Buhari will conclude its work today, Daily Trust gathered last night.
The committee was set up on Tuesday after the meeting of President Buhari and the National Assembly leadership, with the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udoma Udo Udoma, as the leader of the executive team, while Deputy Speaker Yusuf Lasun Suleimon is leading the legislature’s team.
A member of the committee told Daily Trust yesterday that the National Assembly team had acceded to about 85 percent of the request for changes made by President Buhari.
He said they had been “working day and night” since Wednesday and that they would conclude their work today.
The source added that because of their commitment to the matter, members of the team from both the executive and the legislature have left any other work to concentrate on the special assignment given to them. Our correspondents observed that Lasun was conspicuously absent throughout yesterday’s plenary.
Similarly, the chairmen of the House committees on appropriation and finance, Reps Abdulmumin Jibrin (APC, Kano) and Babangida Ibrahim Mahuta (APC, Katsina), both of whom are members, were absent at plenary, ostensibly attending to the budget issue.
Asked if having passed the bill through first, second and third reading, or if it would go back to the floors of the Senate and the House for a fresh process after the changes, the source said that would not be possible as their work was basically on the details of the budget and not the bill passed by the National Assembly.
Similarly, House spokesman Rep Abdulrazak Namdas (APC, Adamawa) said during a press conference yesterday that the committee would conclude its work within this week.
He said the proper thing would be done by the committee to enable the president sign the budget next week.
Source: Trust