Senate proceeds on Xmas break till Jan. 26, approves NDDC budget

By Andy Asemota

The Senate has proceeded on Christmas break and adjourned its next legislative day’s plenary till January 26, 2021, the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, has declared.

Lawan, who made this disclosure on Monday shortly after  the Upper Chamber approved 2021 Appropriation Bill  presented by President Muhammad Buhari and the report on N453 billion year 2020 budget of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) presented by the Senate Committee on Niger Delta respectively.

The Senate President said the lifespan of the year 2020 budget of the NDDC approved by the both chambers of the National Assembly expires on 31st March, 2021, and urged that the 2021 budget of the commission should be presented to NASS without delay as the 9th assembly wants to streamline the budgets of all MDAs.

He tasked the Senate Committee on Niger Delta to ensure that the funds approved for the commission would be properly utilized while urging the executive to ensure the governing board of the commission is promptly put in place as senators lamented that the approved budget would be implemented by a sole administrator instead of an Interim Management Committee (IMC).

Welcoming the Senators to the special session on Monday although the Senate does not sit on Mondays, Lawan explained: “We have a monumental task before us; the task of passing the budget of the federal government and we believe that this is a sacrificial ground for us to come today. For this, I want to thank all of us for making it here.”