Determined to ensure passage of the 2018 budget, the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, yesterday gave 24 hours ultimatum to the remaining 20 committees of the upper legislative chamber which have not submit their reports to the Appropriation Committee. Saraki, who gave the demand shortly before the commencement of the day’s during plenary, declared that the 20 committees “cannot hold us back on the issues of budget.
“I need to mention the committees here because they cannot hold us back on the issues of the budget. They are hereby mandated to submit their reports to the Appropriation Committee on the 2018 Budget latest by tomorrow (today, April 13).”
The senate president listed the committees as Committees on Defence, Army, Air Force, Navy, Industry, Federal Capital Territory, States and Local Government, Culture and Tourism, Petroleum (Downstream), Petroleum (Upstream), Niger Delta, Sustainable Development Goals, Primary Health and Communicable Diseases, Health, Tertiary Institutions and TETFUND, Capital Market, Federal Roads Maintenance Agency, Works; Power, Steel Development and Metallurgy; and National Cooperation and Integration. Consideration of the 2018 Budget of N8.612 trillion by both chambers of the National Assembly after its presentation on November 7, 2017 by President Muhammadu Buhari had been at committee levels since December last year. Saraki had, earlier on Tuesday, appealed to the Appropriation Committee to make sure that the reports from remaining committees are ready latest by today. He said: “The Chairman Appropriation should please ensure that by Friday this week collections of reports from various
