The House of
Representatives has said the passage of the 2017 Appropriation Bill would be
its priority when it resumes from a two-week Easter recess today.
Spokesman of
the House, Abdulrazak Namdas who made the disclosure insisted that lawmakers would expedite action
towards having the budget passed, especially as the National Assembly and the
Presidency were in agreement on key aspects of the Appropriations Bill.
“We want to
ensure that within a few weeks, the budget will be passed. I can tell you that
during the Easter break, the leadership of the National Assembly met severally
with the Executive’s team led by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, to
streamline the budgety to ensure it
tallies with priority areas of the Federal Government. I can tell you that if
this budget is passed, there will be little or no issues with the Executive
implementing it,” he said.
According to sun news, when asked if
other priority interventions of the House included the concurrence of important
legislations such amendment of the Electoral Act 2010 as passed by Senate on Thursday, March 30, Namdas said the
House would follow due process and not be in a hurry to pass any bill.
The Senate
passed amendments to the Electoral Act 2010, approving the use of electronic
voting in future elections. It also
approved that election results should be electronically transmitted to
collation centers.
“Any bill that
is passed by the Senate must be given concurrence by the House and vice-versa.
But you also have to understand that concurrence by either House is not automatic,
neither is the rule that the bill be passed the exact manner it was sent to
either House. But what is important is that we will work hard to pass bills
that will enhance good governance on time,” Namdas stated.
Senate
President Bukola Saraki and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu
Dogara had during the Easter recess of the National Assembly met with Osinbajo
to sort out grey areas on the 2017 Appropriations Bill.
Namdas explained that the meeting was targeted at
harmonising the positions of the Legislature and Executive on the budget.
Despite worry
expressed by experts over the fact that 2016 Appropriations Act elapsed on
Thursday March 5, Namdas had assured
that the budget proposal being considered by various Standing House Committees
would be passed after resumption from the Easter recess.
On
expectations that the leadership of the
House upon resumption will look into timely conclusion of investigations by
committees, especially ad hoc committees some of which were dissolved by the
Speaker before the break without submitting their reports, Namdas said the House has been serious with carrying out
its constitutional responsibility.
The lawmakers
embarked on break on Tuesday April 11
and would resume plenary session today. But there is likelihood that the Senate
and the House would adjourn over the
death of Senator Isiaka Adeleke in line with its tradition of honouring dead
colleagues.
“Yes, the
Speaker dissolved ad hoc committees but my understanding is that next action on
investigations undertaken by these committees will either be taken over by
standing committees or be re-assigned as decided by the leadership of the
House.
“For ongoing
investigations, I can tell you that we are committed to reaching tangible
conclusions and this will be done in timely manner,” he said.
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