I By Emman Ovuakporie
The much expected 2020 Budget details has arrived the National Assembly.
Chairman Senate Committee in Appropriation Senator Barau Jubril was seen directing adhoc staff of NASS to quickly deliver copies of the Budget details at the White House lobby of NASS.
Recall that President Muhamnadu Buhari had told lawmakers before laying the 2020 budget in paragraph five of his speech that what he was laying had no details.
He however promised that the details of the budget would be made available to the lawmakers by the minister of finance.
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While debating the debate the following day which was on October 10, lawmakers in the Senate faulted the budget describing it as an ambitious budget and tagged it a budget of taxation.
In the House of Representatives, the Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila had ruled out Hon Ogundu Kingsley Chinda who had moved that the budget cannot be discussed without its details.
The speaker however ruled him out stating that the budget could be discussed based on general principles.
But in a chat with TNG same day, Chinda had insisted that it’s virtually impossible to deliberate on the budget without its details.
He said”while performing the annual ritual, Mr President brought a dead animal that cannot be used for his sacrifice for laying the budget.
“Also, the president expressly stated in his speech in paragraph five that the ministries will make available the details to enable lawmakers delI berate on the budget.
“Firstly the constitution provides that the president will forward an estimate to the national assembly for consideration and the rule of the which is our House standing order particularly order 12 rule 19 clearly states how the estimate should look like and the nature and form it should take before the house.
“It said during each year there shall be introduced to the house an appropriation bill to the house which shall contain estimated financial requirements for expenditure on revenue account on all services of the government for the succeeding financial year. The details of this financial requirements shall be contained in the estimate which shall be presented at the same time.
I went further to say that the president is unaware of this and that is why on paragraph five of his speech the president did said on Monday that the details are not coming with the estimates, that the minister of finance will forward the details after his presentation.
So my position is that ordinarily the national assembly should give the president time as he has asked for our grace that the minister of finance will send the details of that estimate to us before we can then take the second reading, which is the general argument on the appropriation bill. “
It is like arguing a law without the details of the law. We cannot argue the heading of each section of the law without the body of the law we would be arguing blindly. “
We don’t even have the details of the bill to know how that money would be expended so that we can know whether it is actually justified to give a particular amount to a particular ministry or not.”