Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation, Rep.<\/p>\n
Abdulmumin Jibrin, has commended Nigerians for their patience and
\nunderstanding over the delay in approving the 2016 budget.<\/p>\n
Jubrin gave the commendation while addressing newsmen on Wednesday in
\nAbuja shortly after submitting the detail of the budget to the Clerk of
\nthe National Assembly on behalf of the Joint Appropriation Committee of
\nthe assembly.<\/p>\n
He said that the clerk had been mandate to transmit the detail of the
\nAppropriation Bill to President Muhammadu Buhari.<\/p>\n
NAN recalls that the national assembly sent the budget to the president
\nabout three weeks, but he refused assent, demanding the detail of the
\nchanges the legislature made on it.<\/p>\n
Jibrin said it was important to reiterate that it took the committees
\nextra weeks to get the details ready.<\/p>\n
According to him, it is not because there is anything untoward going on
\nbut rather, for us to correct all the inconsistencies, errors, omissions
\nand padding in the document submitted to us in December, 2015.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing the most important economic policy tool of government, the budget
\nprovides a comprehensive statement of our priorities as a nation.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd, as representatives of the people, the National Assembly remains the
\nappropriate place to ensure that the detail of such a document best match
\nour national goals and aspirations.<\/p>\n
\u201cTherefore, what we have been doing in these past few weeks is to balance
\nthe projections for revenue against the estimates for expenditure based on
\nthe reality of our situation today,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Jibrin, however, said that the task was made \u201cvery difficult\u201d by the
\nsloppy manner in which the 2016 Appropriation Bill was prepared by the
\nexecutive.<\/p>\n
He stated that many of the officials who came before the various
\ncommittees practically disowned the inputs from their own departments and
\nministries.<\/p>\n
According to him, in most instances, and across several agencies, the bill
\nthat was initially presented to the committees failed in many respects to
\nconnect with the policy thrust of the government and the needs of the
\npeople.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is aside the fact that most of the figures simply did not just add
\nup. It was one of the most controversial budgets that ever came to the
\nNational Assembly from the executive.<\/p>\n
\u201cFortunately, President Muhammadu Buhari, who we must commend for showing
\nleadership, intervened and that helped in resolving what had become a
\nserious logjam.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome officials in the executive branch have also been removed from their
\nduty posts because of these glaring lapses.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat happened because the president took direct responsibility and got
\ninvolved in the process, not only to ensure synergy between the executive
\nand the legislature, but so that we can arrive at a budget that is
\nimplementable,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The committee chairman, however, stressed that it was the first time
\nNigeria would transit from the ruling political party to the opposition,
\nadding that, \u201cwe therefore believe that the executive will learn from the
\nmistakes of this year\u201d.<\/p>\n
He commended the leadership of the national assembly and members of the
\ncommittees \u201cwho had to endure sleepless nights, especially in recent
\nweeks\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo the extent that the budget drafting phase is a long process, the
\ncommittee stage provides the most significant opportunity for members of
\nthe public, including the media and civil society organizations to make
\ncontributions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have taken into account all shades of opinions in arriving at the
\nbreakdown which is now with the executive,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
According to Jibrin, now that the 2016 budget has been passed, our next
\nrole is to add value to the process through legislative oversight
\nfunctions that enable us to ensure adherence to priorities.<\/p>\n
This, he said, would take place while monitoring effective allocation of
\nresources.<\/p>\n
He urged the president to abide strictly with provisions of the Fiscal
\nResponsibility Act which stipulates that the appropriation bill be
\npresented early.<\/p>\n
He said that presenting the bill early would provide sufficient time for
\ninteractive sessions between the executive and the legislature before the
\ncommencement of committee hearings.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat way, some of the controversies that dogged this year\u2019s budget will
\nbe avoided,\u201d he advised.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Appropriation, Rep. Abdulmumin Jibrin, has commended Nigerians for their patience and understanding over the delay in approving the 2016 budget. Jubrin gave the commendation…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":48296,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n