BY VICTOR BUORO, ABUJA – Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila has said that the National Assembly is doing everything to return the country’s budget to the January to December cycle for proper implementation.
Gbajabiamila noted that besides, the 1999 constitution provides that the country’s budget should run from January to December, except as otherwise prescribed by the National Assembly where there are strong reasons to do so.
The Speaker, who spoke on Wednesday at the opening of a 2-day public hearing on the 2020 budget organised by the joint Senate and House Committee on Appropriation, said having the budget running from another period other than January to December may have depressing impact on the economy.
He said; “Many people have asked me, what is the big deal about January to December budget cycle? Why are we so pressed on returning the financial year to January to December? It’s simple, the constitution says so. A lot of people are not aware of it. It’s stipulated in the constitution that ‘the financial year shall be January to December or any other time as prescribed by the National Assembly.
“Going by the language of the constitution, it means that what it’s exactly saying is that, yes it has to be January to December, but that at any other time, maybe there’s a reason why you’re unable to. But in the main, what is expected is that it’s January to December.
“This allows for proper timing, proper implementation as opposed to what has obtained for some time when budget is passed going to the second quarter of the year. This has its own psychological impact. It has a way of depressing even the economy itself.”
The Speaker explained that those were some of the anomalies that the National Assembly seeks to address by carrying Nigerians along.
Gbajabiamila said the public hearing was organised to get inputs from Nigerians and the relevant stakeholders so that all parts of the country would be carried along to reflect federal character in projects allocation.
In his words; “Basically, this 2020 budget speaks for itself. It speaks clearly in English, in black and white. So, there’s no address for me to give. What we’re here to do is to basically present to the stakeholders the N10.3 trillion budget as presented by the President. It’s for the stakeholders to put this document, examine it before the legislature exercises its full authority as provided for by the constitution.”
