By Nathaniel Zacchaeus, Abuja
The National Assembly Joint Committee on Appropriation has said it was working towards passing the 2024; Appropriation Bill before the end of this week.
The Chairman of the Appropriation Committee, Senator Adeola, stated this yesterday at the sitting of his panel.
Adeola has therefore handed down a 48-hour deadline to all sub-committees to submit their reports on the 2024 budget.
He said it was preparatory to the eventual signing into law of the N27.5trn budget before the end of this month by President Bola Tinubu.
Adeola enjoined all the sub-committees to keep to the deadline and by so doing, ensure that the National Assembly would meet the January-December budget cycle.
He said, “I am appealing to all my colleagues to please, I am ready and the deadline is Wednesday this week to receive all reports, all standing committees of the Senate.
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“By Wednesday, any agency or any committee that has not submitted their report before the committee, it is assumed that you are giving us the omnibus power to go ahead and treat your budget independently of that committee.
“So, we are appealing to all chairmen of various committees to please submit their reports on or before Wednesday this week.
“So, today, we formally open the secretariat to all chairmen of committees and their secretariat to start the defence of their respective budget of their MDAs before the Committee on Appropriations.
“I want to implore my colleagues, to please, we are readily available to receive their reports. We don’t want to act on any ministry or agencies of the government without having the input of their respective committees from the chairmen of the various committees.
“We are begging, we are appealing that the National Assembly resume plenary on the 20th of this month and that was when we are expected to present and pass the budget
“But without this submission before the committee, there is little or nothing we can do and as you are all aware, the tradition of the national assembly is to pass the budget into law by the 31st of December of every year.
“This Tenth Senate cannot be an exemption. We have to work round the clock. We understand the stress everybody is going through but that is why we are here.
“I am appealing to all my colleagues to please, I am ready and the deadline is Wednesday this week to receive all reports, all standing committees of the Senate.
From the sub-committee reports submitted yesterday, the lawmakers raised the issue of the 136 Nigerians trapped in Ethiopian prisons.
They also spoke about the N5bn proposed in the budget to revamp the Obudu Cattle Ranch in Cross River State.
The Committee on Tourism chaired by Senator Ireti Kingibe and the Committee on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations headed by Senator Victor Umeh, led yesterday in submitting their reports.
While submitting his report, the Chairman of the Sub-Committee on Umeh said some of the 136 Nigerians serving various jail terms had sought to be transferred to Nigeria to serve out their punishment.
However, he told the committee that the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), which is responsible for handling their matter, is handicapped due to poor funding.
For instance, Umeh said the commission was given a budget of N1.2bn for 2024, out of which N652.9m was earmarked for capital expenditure.
But, Umeh stated that looking at the workload of NIDCOM, N4.9bn was recommended by his committee as the agency’s capital budget.
Umeh explained that this would cover five new line items introduced to the budget, including addressing the plight of Nigerians in prisons, organising Diaspora summits, and other projects to coordinate the activities of Nigerians living outside the shores of the country.
Responding, Olamilekan promised that the committee on appropriations would review the report and find a way to shore up the budget of NIDCOM, “considering the very important work they have been doing.”
He added, “We will pay attention to NIDCOM in our reporting stage. However, we will do a review of the five new lines and prioritise them.”
On her part, Kingibe submitted to the committee that out of the N7.9bn proposed as the capital budget of the Ministry of Tourism, over N5bn was earmarked for the Obudu Cattle Ranch.
She said it was not proper in her view, for one geopolitical zone to take more than half the total capital vote of the agency, to the neglect of other zones.
The committee replied that, while her point was taken, members would investigate how the N5bn would be spent, to be sure that it would go into the revamping of the Obudu ranch.
“We will investigate why we are spending this N5bn in just one geopolitical zone. But, we have to also understand that we are still not yet there with this money allocated to tourism.
“We have to do more if we want to drive tourism in this country,” Olamilekan stated.
