The House of Representatives may present corrections on the grey areas listed by the executive in the 2016 budget to President Muhammadu Buhari this week, Daily Sun learnt yesterday.
Despite assurances last Thursday, by Speaker Yakubu Dogara, that the National Assembly and the executive would fully resolve the contentious issues in the budget, the House has not forwarded any correction to the president as at yesterday, it was gathered.
Sources said although the adjustments by the House of representativesAppropriations Committee, as directed by speaker, has reached an advanced stage, submission of the final document was pushed to this week.
“The speaker has been giving the appropriations committee directives on corrections to be made and they have gone far with this. But, the presentation of the final document has not taken place,” the source said yesterday.
Investigations also showed that Dogara, who had the mandate of the house to liaise with Buhari on Friday, left Abuja for Adamawa State, where he visited the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps on Saturday. The development put paid to the hope that the Speaker would meet with the president at the weekend.
Speaking to a delegation of All Progressives Congress (APC) elders and stakeholders from Kwande/Oshongo Federal Constituency of Benue State in the National Assembly, Dogara had pledged that all the issues arising from the budget would be fully dealt with last week.
He said: “As we speak to you, I know that the executive has sent its observations on the budget, areas they termed ‘grey areas. We’ve taken delivery of that document, we are looking into it and in collaboration with the Senate, the entire National Assembly, we have arrived at a decision, which I will not announce here because that one is for the ears of Mr. President only.
“It is in the overall national interest, we know that we have to find a solution and sooner than later, within this week, I believe that as leaders, having put on our thinking caps, we should be able to come up with a solution that will address this problem.”
Also, on Sunday, chairmen of the Senate and House of Representatives joint Committee on Appropriation, Senator Danjuma Goje and Jibrin Abdumunin blamed the budget impasse on the heads of the various standing committees in both chambers.
They alleged that, as chairmen, they only summed up what were received.
Goje and Jibrin, in a joint press statement on Sunday evening, however, said they were ready to put the past behind and quickly move to work on the copy of the budget returned to the National Assembly by the president.
The duo also hinted that, at the right time, they would open up on the role they played in the alleged doctoring of the budget and the removal of vital aspects, like the Calabar- Lagos rail line project.
They urged their colleagues to accede to the president’s request to have a second look at the details of the budget and make necessary adjustment, Goje and Jibrin said the new copy of the budget could be ready in one week.
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