Senate reintroduces bill for NASS budget office

By Taye Odewale

The Senate Thursday reintroduced a bill seeking to establish the National Assembly Budget and Research Office (NABRO).

The bill, which was passed by the 8th Senate on May 3, 2019, was not receive assent  of President Muhammadu Buhari, but like others that were worked on and returned for assent, the senators have according to resurrected it.

During plenary Thursday, Senator Rose Oko (PDP-Cross River) sponsored the bill just like others that were worked on and returned for assent before the life of the 8th assembly terminated.

It enjoyed reasonable contributions just like it did in the first instance and subsequently scaled first reading.

Blueprint recalls that the idea of establishing the National Assembly Budget Office was first muted in 2005 during the 5th senate when Senator Ken Nnamani was the Senate Presidency. But it was a mirage.

The bill was reintroduce in the 6th Senate under the leadership of Senator David Mark was aborted as it failed to receive the required support.

The Bill was first introduced on the floor of the 7th Senate under Senate President David Mark, and sponsored by the Senate Leader Victor Ndoma-Egba at that time.

The proposed National Assembly budget office will report annually to the Senate and House of Representatives all items funded in the preceding financial year for which no appropriation was made by the National Assembly.

And all items contained in the Appropriation Act in the preceding financial year but which were not funded by the Federal Government.

The office is to be headed by a Director-General, who shall also report to a governing board made up of a chairman and six members and shall provide independent and continuous review of the Federal Government budgets including monitoring of existing and proposed programmes.

Provide independent unbiased analysis of the budget of the National Assembly and assist all the committees of the National Assembly in developing their annual budgets.

Besides the NABRO Bill, nine others scaled first reading during Thursday’s plenary which include National Industrial Court Act (Amendment) Bill, 2019, sponsored by Sen Ovie Omo-Agege (APC-Delta).