By Nathaniel Zacchaeus, Abuja
Yesterday, the Senate declared that it would suspend the plenary for two weeks when the National Assembly resumes the Christmas and New Year celebrations on January 14.
It explained that this development would enable the Appropriation subcommittees of both chambers to begin considering the N49.7trn 2025 budget.
The Red Chamber also tentatively fixed January 31 as a possible date to lay the report of the Appropriation Committee for passage that day.
It fixed Thursday this week as an open day for budget consideration.
It hinted that stakeholders in the polity, in addition to heads of the various ministries, departments, and agencies, would have the opportunity to provide input.
Senator Solomon Adeola, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, stated these when his panel met with the chairmen of other standing committees in the Senate.
He added that January 31 had been tentatively fixed as a date for the laying and passing of the reports of the 2025 Appropriation bill separately before the Senate and the House of Representatives.
The meeting was attended by chairmen of the Senate’s Standing Committees and Principal Officers of the Red Chamber.
Adeola said the time frame for the National Assembly’s consideration and passage of the 2025 budget was short but assured Nigerians that the best would be made of it.
He said, “Before this meeting with chairmen of the various standing committees in the Senate, the Appropriation Committee had met for several hours on the best way to handle the consideration of the 2025 budget.
Recall that the fiscal legislation was presented to the National Assembly on Wednesday, December 18, 2024, by President Bola Tinubu.
The Senate and the House of Representatives passed it for a second reading on Thursday.
At yesterday’s meeting, Adeola said, “For expeditious and thorough consideration, hard copies of the budget proposals were obtained and already distributed to chairmen of the various committees. It would serve as reference documents during budget defence sessions with heads of MDAs.
“The tentative timetable that has been drawn for consideration of the budget at the committee level is that budget defence sessions begin from Tuesday (today). Reports from various committees are expected to be submitted from the 15th to the 18th of this month.
“Afterwards, collation and tidying up of the various reports will be done by the appropriation committee with the hope of laying the final report on the budget to the Senate on the 31st of this month.
“However, January 31, fixed for laying the budget, is tentative as it is just given to guide our work.”
The committee thereafter went into a closed session with chairmen of the various standing committees in the Senate.
