By Taiye Odewale
Abuja
President Muhammadu Buhari has commended the National Assembly for collaborating with the executive for the review of the nation’s budgeting processes.
The president gave the commendation in Abuja at the Economic Summit on Intergovernmental/Inter-Party Relations and the Budget Reform Process for Sustainable Development in Nigeria, organised by the National Institute for Legislative Studies (NILS).
Represented by the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Mr Udoma Udo Udoma, the president, while acknowledging the conflicts between the Executive and Legislature, said that fiscal conflicts between the two arms were traditional.
He, however, called for better collaboration between both arms of government while commending the National Assembly for partnering the Ministry of Budget to review the budgeting process in Nigeria.
“I am delighted by the efforts of the National Assembly in pushing for a reform in our budgetary process to entrench transparency and accountability, professionalism, greater citizen participation, and adherence to strict guidelines and timelines.
“We look forward to the passage of the Budget Process Bill because we are of the fi rm conviction that a credible budget process is the fi rst step towards ensuring that the budget is developmentally driven,” he said.
He restated the commitment of the present administration in building the nation’s economy and bringing development to the people, explaining that the provision and modernisation of infrastructure, specifically railway system, roads and power across the length and breadth of this country was a priority for the administration Speaking earlier, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Ita Enang, harped on the need for legislature-executive partnership.
He said that the barometer for measuring the relationship between the two arms of government was budget process adding that a good relationship will translate to a good budget appropriation and implementation.
