Why We Altered 2018 Budget – Senate Deputy Majority Leader

The Deputy Majority Leader in the Senate, Alh. Bala Ibn Na’allah has explained why the National Assembly made some adjustments in the 2018 Appropriation Bill as observed by President Muhamadu Buhari.

Na’allah was reacting to the Buhari’s allegation that the lawmakers removed Executive’s projects and inserted theirs in the 2018 Budget, which he said might be difficult to execute.

President Buhari, who said this on Wednesday after signing the 2018 Budget, accused the National Assembly of making cuts “amounting to N347 billion in the allocations to 4,700 projects submitted to them for consideration and introduced 6,403 projects of their own amounting to N578 billion”.

Reacting to the claim, the senator said due to the nature of the Budget, the lawmakers had no option than to carry out some adjustments.

“If we had allowed it to go that way (it came) we would have been in trouble with those who elected us into office,” he told reporters.

“You have to balance between the six geo-political zones.

“It is the balancing effort by the National Assembly that led to those observations and happily enough he himself has said that he is coming with supplementary appropriation which will be dealt with as quickly as possible.

“I assure you about that one.’’

On the seven months delay for the approval of the budget, the senator exonerated the National Assembly, recalling that President Buhari himself had to order the MDAs to appear before the lawmakers to defend their allocations.

“It is a very delicate issue; if someone says he wants N500 billion for the maintenance of the nation’s bridges and then you expect the National Assembly to say that budget is approved because it is coming from the executive then we have not done our work.

“We will be interested in knowing which roads you say you want to maintain so that we do not give another allocation in the next budget.

“The President’s observations are correct but in the budgeting process those things are normal,’’ Na’allah stated.

Also speaking, House Majority Whip, Alhassan Doguwa, said that some of the concerns raised by the President were critical, but added that he was at liberty to raise such concerns.

He said that having signed the Budget into law, the NASS would expect implementation by the Executive.

“But the most important thing you have to note is that the budget is at least now signed by the President.

“The Budget is now law of the federation and we expect the executive arm of the government to now implement the budget to the latter.

“Should the President now have other concerns to bring about some supplementary budget for the National Assembly to consider, I think we will at the same time be at liberty to look at the President’s concerns and those things he wants us to review.

“I want to believe the NASS is always in a position to work hand in hand with the President.’’