Senate Passes Controversial 2016 Budget Into Law

[caption id="attachment_6597" align="alignnone" width="660"]The Nigerian Senate Chamber[/caption]

Following weeks of delay, the Nigerian senate, on Wednesday, finally passed the 2016 budget into law.

The passage followed a motion by the chairman, senate committee on appropriation, Senator Danjuma Goje, for the passage of 2016 Appropriation of N6.07trillion and seconded by Senator Andy Uba.

While presenting the report on the budget, Goje, said that the budget was “full of controversy”, but that the senate would not want to delay its passage by adding more controversies to it.

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“That the Senate do consider the Report of the Committee on Appropriations on the 2016 Bill,” Goje urged.

Goje had said that there were lapses in the budget, but that the committee had to work around them. He said that the delay in the passage of the budget had already been given a political hue, and Nigerians would blame the legislature for any further delay.

Satisfied with explanations that the nation will benefit from the proposal, the senate passed the budget into law.

Senate President, Bukola Saraki, read through the schedule, short and long title while insisting that section 318of the 1999 Constitution of the federal Republic as amended be complied with.

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“Distinguished Senators, government must comply with Section 318 of the 1999 Constitution which means the budget runs for 12 Calender months from March and ends in March the preceding year,” Saraki said.

He commended the Committee for a good job done on the budget in view of errors in it, while urging the full implementation by Executive so that it will support made in Nigeria goods.

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