Contrary to the claim by the National Assembly that it had concluded work on the 2016 budget last week, the legislature was still putting finishing touches to the document, lending credence to the growing suspicion that Nigerians would have to wait for a few more weeks before works is concluded on it and it is signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari, THISDAY learnt wednesday.
THISDAY checks revealed that the Senate Committee on Appropriation was striving hard to round up work on the budget Wednesday.
It was also confirmed the allegation by the presidency that the National Assembly only transmitted the highlights of the budget to Buhari for his information with the intention of transmitting the comprehensive budget when it finishes work on it.
However, the legislature was said to have erred by merely transmitting highlights of the document without giving any explanation on why it did so, a development which led to the reaction from the presidency that the document could not be assented to.
It was also learnt that the National Assembly could have saved itself the embarrassment had it sent a note to the president that it was tidying up the budget and would transmit it to him soon.
But the lawmakers were said to have failed to explain the true picture of the situation to the presidency, thus giving rise to the perception that the National Assembly was playing on the president’s intelligence.
When journalists visited the office of the Senate Committee Chairman on Appropriation, Senator Danjuma Goje, yesterday, they saw some members of the committee work intently on the budget.
Among those sighted were the Vice-Chairman of the Appropriation Committee, Senator Sonni Ogbuoji, and Deputy Chief Whip and a member of the committee, Senator Francis Alimikhena.
The meeting confirmed findings that work was yet to be concluded on the budget because it is against the norm of a bill’s passage for the lawmakers to keep meeting on the same bill after it has been duly passed.
Under normal circumstances, the clerk of the committee would forward the bill to the Senate President after it has been certified okay by the legal department for his signature.
The senate president would thereafter send it back to the clerk of the Senate who would in turn forward it to the clerk of the National Assembly who would later transmit it to the president for his assent.
However, a situation whereby committee members who ordinarily should be on Easter recess were still meeting on the budget yesterday, strengthened the suspicion that the legislature had not concluded work on the budget and only declared that it had been passed to ward off pressure from the public.
By implication, said an observer last night, the lawmakers will use the highlights, which were announced last week, to work towards an answer (that is the budget details or breakdown).
Several efforts made by journalists to seek Goje’s view on the actual status of budget yesterday proved futile, as he did not only fail to pick his calls, he also refused to reply to any text messages sent to his phone.
When Goje came out of his office and encountered journalists in his reception, the former Gombe State governor could not conceal his irritation.
On bumping into them, his countenance darkened as he turned to his aides and asked in Hausa: “Wa ya kira su? Wa ya kira su?” meaning, “Who called them? Who called them?
Then facing the journalists, he said: “Wa ya kira ku?” meaning, “Who called you?” as he walked away.
THISDAY learnt further that it would take no fewer than two weeks for the comprehensive budget to be ready for transmission to the president.
Efforts made to speak with Senate spokesperson, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi, also yielded no result, as he could not be reached.
However, while the Senate chose to be evasive over the status of the 2016 budget, discordant tunes became the order of the day from the House of Representative, when House Minority Leader, Hon. Leo Ogor, said that the normal tradition of the National Assembly was for the budget, when passed, to be transmitted to the president for his assent, alongside all details, adding that it was not possible that only the highlights of the N6.06 trillion budget was sent to Buhari.
This contrasted with the admission by the lower legislative chamber later yesterday that it did indeed transmit only the highlights of the budget to the presidency after its passage on March 23 due to the urgency of the situation, adding that the details would be sent within the next one week or two.
Ogor, speaking with THISDAY, dismissed news reports credited to sources in the presidency that the Buhari was yet to append his signature to the 2016 Appropriation Bill because of lack of details.
The minority leader, who has spent 12 years as a House member, said the report was the work of mischief makers.
“Normally, we do not send highlights to the presidency. What we send is a detailed budget through the clerk of the National Assembly. So unless the presidential spokesman can tell us that only the highlights were received, then I consider it simply speculative, coming from sources.
“The clerk of the National Assembly is a very experienced man, who cannot make that error. If I were to follow the custom of the House where I have been a member for the past 12 years, I can draw the conclusion that the information is fabricated,” he said.
Ogor also noted that while the report might not have been politically motivated to tarnish the image of the National Assembly, it was mischievous.
“This is a non-issue. It is like a storm in a teacup, we have never sent the highlights to the presidency. I also say it’s non-consequential because it is not from a credible source from the presidency. I am surprised that today it is on the front page story of many newspapers, and that is embarrassing,” he added.
Another lawmaker who spoke to THISDAY off record, echoed the minority leader, insisting that it was not possible for the National Assembly to have sent only the highlights of the budget to the presidency.
The lawmaker, who like Ogor is a ranking member in the House, said: “It is totally impossible that the National Assembly would send just highlights. That is not possible. The president is already aware that the budget was passed, and there is a procedure for transmitting it.
“If for any reason just highlights were sent to him, he cannot append it, because that would be like signing a document without reading it. So why would we then send just highlights to him?”
But the Chairman, House Committee on Appropriation, Hon. Jibrin Abdulmumim, at a press briefing yesterday, contradicted his colleagues when he confirmed that the National Assembly was still working on the details of the budget.
He said that it was the normal practice for the budget highlight to be sent to presidency, while work continues on the details within the parameters of the budget estimates.
“It is not abnormal for the president to assent to the highlights sent to him, it happened in the era of President (Olusegun) Obasanjo, but if President Buhari has said he will only give assent when he receives the details, so be it,” he said.
Abdulmumim said the president could not have accused the National Assembly of any ulterior motives by not sending the details alongside the highlights, going by the challenges the National Assembly faced before the budget estimates were eventually passed.
“This is my fifth time working on budget… this is the most difficult budget we ever worked with… With all the challenges, I doubt the presidency, knowing fully what transpired in the last few months, would be throwing stones at the National Assembly. I do not believe that the statement came from the presidency,” he said.
Abdulmumim recalled the controversies surrounding the budget, starting from the delay in the submission of the Medium Term Expenditure Framework; the delay in the submission of the budget estimates; submission of multiple budgets; and the errors and omissions in the budget, all of which he said resulted in the lawmakers working day and night to ensure its speedy passage.
The budget envelope was retained, he noted, adding that the N17 billion reduction was made at ten per cent across board for all budget proposals of all the ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of the federal government.
“With all we have done, I expect the executive to be thanking us… We worked day and night, we have been very generous with the executive,” Abdulmumim said.
Supporting him, the Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Hon. Abdulrazak Namdas, also confirmed that the National Assembly did not transmit the details of the budget.
“We didn’t send the details. Budgets are passed in two ways, you either pass the details, await the figures, or pass the figures and await the details,” he told THISDAY.
Namdas added that the details would be sent “very soon” to the presidency. He however did not give an exact date.
“It is normal practice, because of the urgency of the situation. The details must be in tandem with the reports of standing committees of the House. The standing committees interfaced with the MDAs and submitted to the Appropriation Committee before harmonisation.
“The details cannot be done in a hurry. But the most important thing is that we have retained the size of the envelope of the MDAs,” the House spokesman said.
Meanwhile, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (House of Representatives), Hon. Suleiman Abdulrahman Sumaila Kawu, also confirmed that the presidency was yet to receive the budget breakdown.
In a statement yesterday, Kawu said one week after its passage, the president was still waiting for the National Assembly to finish with the details.
The statement read in part: “First, the usual tradition of the budget processes by the legislature and the presidential assent is that if the two chambers pass different figures, they would then constitute a harmonisation committee to harmonise their various positions, after which the appropriation committees of both chambers will work out the details. After working out the details, they will forward it to Mr. President for his assent.
“But this time around, the legislature has passed the same figures. Once the president gets the budget, he and his team will look at the details of what the National Assembly has passed.
“If there is any observation, he will send it back to the National Assembly, and if not, he will assent to it.”
Kawu added that this has been the practice since the return of democracy in 1999.
“Moreover, we wish to thank the National Assembly for working day and night to ensure the successful passage of the budget, although we are still waiting for the details,” he added.
