Reps Confirm Transmission Of Budget To Buhari

The controversy trailing the whereabouts of the 2016 Appropriation Bill has been put to rest as the House of Representatives yesterday confirmed that the reviewed copy of the budget has been transmitted to President Muhammadu Buhari for assent. Deputy chairman of the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Hon. Jonathan Gaza, gave the confirmation at a news briefing yesterday in Abuja.

He said the House, like other Nigerians, was desirous that the budget would be assented, expressing optimism that the president would sign the budget soon. “A committee was set up which was in the papers and was headed by the deputy speaker, members from the Senate, as well as the executive arm to look at the budget and I believe the resolutions have been transmitted or rather the resolutions have been submitted to the president. “I am quite optimistic and I enjoin all other Nigerians, including yourself,0 to be as optimistic that in the very near future, this budget will be signed into law,” Gaza said.

On when the budget was submitted and whether it was an amendment that was submitted, the House deputy spokesman said: “Well, I honestly believe that we have to be quite careful with our choice of words.

“Over time, there have been differences and both arms of government had sat down to look at what those issues are. Most importantly, what we want is to see our country and our economy moving forward.

“To this end, just as I earlier stated and I want to reiterate, both sides of the divide are working hard and the budget before long is going to be signed into law.”

Though Gaza did not give details on how and when the budget was transmitted to the presidency, sources close to the leadership confirmed that it was Senator Ita Enang that took the budget from the 10-man committee of the National Assembly headed by the deputy speaker of House of Representatives, Hon. Yussuf Lasun. Earlier in the day, it was scheduled that the deputy speaker was going to hand over the corrected version of the budget in the presence of journalists, but the plan was later cancelled and was submitted quietly.