The Joint National Assembly Committee on Appropriation will be waiting to see if all sub-committees will meet today’s (Wednesday 20 December 2023) deadline for the submission of their reports on the 2024 budget.
This is preparatory to the eventual signing into law of the N27.5 trillion Appropriation Bill by President Bola Tinubu, which the Committee on Appropriation is determined to facilitate and see to conclusion before the end of December.
Senator Solomon Adeola, Chairman of the Appropriation Committee, said it would be assumed that any agency or committee which failed to submit its report by Wednesday was surrendering its right to participate in the determination of its budget and that further progress would be made without such agency or committee.
Adeola said on Monday, that the Joint National Assembly Committee on Appropriation had perfected arrangements to pass the 2024 appropriation bill before the end of the week.
The panel had on Monday, handed down a 48-hour deadline to all sub-committees to submit their reports on the 2024 budget. The deadline expires today (Wednesday 20 December, 2023).
Senator Adeola had in his opening remarks at the sitting of the panel on Monday, enjoined all the sub-committees to keep to the deadline, to enable the National Assembly meet the January-December budget cycle.
He said, “I am appealing to all my colleagues. Please, I am ready, and the deadline is Wednesday this week, to receive all reports, all standing committees of the Senate.
“By Wednesday, any agency or any committee that has not submitted their report before the committee, it is assumed that you are giving us the omnibus power to go ahead and treat your budget independently of that committee.
“So, we are appealing to all chairmen of various committees to please submit their reports on or before Wednesday this week.
“Today, we formally opened the secretariat to all chairmen of committees and their secretariat to start the defence of the respective budgets of their MDAs before the Committee on Appropriations.
“I want to implore my colleagues, please we are readily available to receive their reports.”
Adeola said the plan was for the budget to be passed upon resumption of plenary by the National Assembly.
He added: “But without this submission before the committee, there is little or nothing we can do and as you are all aware, the tradition of the National Assembly is to pass the budget into law by 31st of December of every year.”
He emphasised, “This 10th Senate cannot be an exception. We have to work round the clock. We understand the stress everybody is going through but that is why we are here.”
Preening the sub-committee reports submitted on Monday, the lawmakers noted the matter of 136 Nigerians held in Ethiopian prisons.
They further deliberated on the N5 billion proposed in the budget to revamp the Obudu Cattle Ranch in Cross River State.
In submitting his report, Senator Victor Umeh, chairman of the Committee on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations, said some of the 136 Nigerians serving various jail terms in Ethiopia, had sought to be transferred to Nigeria to serve out their terms.
Umeh said the Nigerians in the Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), which was responsible for handling the matter of the said convicted persons was constrained by the lack of funds.
He further observed that the commission was given a budget of N1.2 billion for 2024, out of which N652.9 million was earmarked for capital expenditure. He said looking at the workload of NIDCOM, N4.9 billion was recommended by his committee as the agency’s capital budget.
He said the sum would cover five new line items introduced to the budget, including addressing the plight of Nigerians in foreign prisons, organising Diaspora summits, and other projects to coordinate the activities of Nigerians living outside the shores of the country.
Adeola assured that the appropriations committee would review the report and move to boost the budget of NIDCOM, “Considering the very important work they have been doing.
“We will pay attention to NIDCOM in our reporting stage. However, we will do a review of the five new lines and prioritise them,” he said.
Senator Ireti Kingibe, chairperson of the committee on tourism, told the committee that out of the N7.9 billion proposed as the capital budget of the Ministry of Tourism, over N5 billion was earmarked for the Obudu Cattle Ranch.
She questioned the rationale of one geopolitical zone taking up more than half of the total capital vote of the agency, to the neglect of others.
To this, the committee said it would look into how the N5 billion was proposed to be spent.
