22nd December, 2022
By Naomi Sharang
President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan says the Senate decided to shifted the passage of the 2023 budget to Dec.28, due to some challenges.
Lawan said this at the commencement of plenary on Thursday against the backdrop of an earlier announcement that the Bill would be passed before the chamber adjourned for Christmas recess on Thursday.
“Today was scheduled for us to receive and consider the report of our committee on Appropriation for the 2023 Appropriation Bill.
“However, due to some challenges, we are not able to receive the report of the committee.
“And the main reason is that the Appropriation Bill came to the National Assembly with some problems.
“And when our Committees on Appropriation in the Senate and the House of Representatives started to reconcile the figures of what we have done and what was presented, the problems became very obvious and they were not easy to deal with, and therefore our committees had to start a process of cleaning up the Bill first,” Lawan said.
He added: “That process, of course, also engaged the executive arm because the problems came from t
“It was concluded only on Wednesday and our committee secretariats are not able to finish processing the budget for us to take today nor tomorrow, nor Saturday nor Sunday because this are periods that are for festivities, Christmas period; Monday, Tuesday are public holidays.
“Consequently, we can only receive the report and consider it on Wednesday, Dec. 28. That is the earliest, that’s next week.
“So far, this ninth National Assembly has done so much to pass the previous appropriation Bills since 2019, before the end of the year to date and I’m sure that this would remain one of the cherished legacies of the ninth National Assembly.”
“So by the Grace of God, on the 28th of this month, the senate and indeed the House of Representatives will all come back to receive and consider the budget report from our committees.