No Compromise On Dec Target For 2020 Budget – Senate Warns MDAs
BY EDMOND ODOK, ABUJA – President of the Nigerian Senate, Ahmad Lawan, has warned that there will be no compromise on the December target set by the National Assembly for passing the 2020 Appropriation Bill.
Senator Lawan, who gave the warning on Friday said the lawmakers will ensure Ministers or Heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of government to derail their plans of meeting the December deadline.
According to him; “The National Assembly will do the right thing; which is to work on the budget and pass it.
Speaking while unveiling the House of Representatives’ Legislative Agenda, Senator Lawan said; “We will not allow anyone to frustrate our desire to pass the 2020 Budget before the end of this year. So, it is an opportunity for all those concerned with defending their budgets, to take the advantage.”
The Senate President, who has been consistent in voicing NASS’ desire to reverse the current unpredictable financial year to a more predictable January to December cycle of budgeting, said; “one thing that we have collectively decided in the National Assembly, is to pass the budget 2020 before the end of the year.”
“Already, the House has suspended plenary; the Senate will do same on Tuesday next week for the consideration of budget defence by Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government.
“Only the window of October is available for budget defense. Any Minister or Head of Agency who decides to travel out of Nigeria, without defending his or her respective budget would have no opportunity to do so again.”
He praised the House of Representatives for their prompt passage of the Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP) just like the Senate did.
“This shows the commitment, capacity and willingness of the House to work assiduously for Nigeria to make progress”, the Senate president said, adding; “We are going to work jointly to ensure that we maintain and sustain this momentum.”
He stated that the ninth National Assembly is desirous to ensure that Nigerians get better in structure and social services.
To achieve what some people consider a tall order, Lawan, who is also the Chairman of the National Assembly, has consistently, urged government officials to take advantage of the opportunity to defend their budget estimates on schedule.
On the Legislative Agenda, Lawan said both chambers have many things in common, adding that they have great deal of understanding of positive things for Nigeria.
He said though the legislative agenda of the two chambers are separately treated, “we have the same mission; and it is to take Nigeria to greater heights in the next four years”, stressing that going forward, the plan is to transform and translate the prevailing stability within the two chambers into productivity by way of effective implementation of the legislative agenda.
The Senate last month deliberated on its Legislative Agenda and adopted it for implementation.
