At a joint session of the National Assembly in November, President Bola Tinubu will deliver the national budget estimate for 2024.
Senator Solomon Adeola, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, revealed the suggestion to reporters on Wednesday.
Senator Adeola mentioned that the appropriations measure for 2024 is anticipated by lawmakers by the end of next week.
The Senate Committee on Appropriations has invited Wale Edun, the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, to a meeting on Wednesday of next week, in advance of the anticipated presentation.
Adeola noted that the parliamentarians intend to maintain the January to December budget cycle, which was initiated by the 9th National Assembly. Adeola had pledged that the Senate would conduct a thorough investigation prior to passing the budget.
He said: “I want you to take cognizance of the fact that there is a change of government prior to now and as of May 29, 2023, a new Government is in place.
“I want you to take cognizance of the change of government on May 29. There is a teething problem because there is a change of government.
“The new administration has a new mantra that encapsulates its vision and there must be challenges.
“We will do a thorough job on the budget. Our job is to verify the budget to meet the expectations of the people. We will look into it thoroughly.
“We are expecting the MTEF next week and immediately we receive the document, the Committee on Finance will go into work and look into it.
“I assure you that we won’t break the tradition, we will have the budget as at when due. We will keep to the tradition of the January to December budget cycle.”
Regarding budget padding, Senator Adeola declared that he does not support it but gave the assurance that the legislators would make sure the budget satisfies the needs of the populace.
“It has to do with the nomination of the project to the budget document that will meet the yearnings and the needs of the people, I would not regard that as padding. It is still part of the government document we look into and it has an expectation. The budget is an estimate but implementation is another thing. So I don’t believe in budget padding,” he said.
Follow us on Facebook
Post Disclaimer
The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the author and forum participants on this website do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of Anaedo Online or official policies of the Anaedo Online.