The Senate on Wednesday says the planned passage of the 2018 Budget by January is no longer feasible due to the reluctance and outright refusal by heads of agencies to defend their budgets before the National Assembly. The Chairman Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Sen. Sabi Abdullahi stated this on Wednesday in a chat with newsmen.
He lamented that some heads of government agencies were not giving the National Assembly the needed cooperation stressing that the move will affect the speedy passage of the budget. He specifically fingered the CBN, NNPC, DPR and NBS as some of the agencies failing to defend their budgets.
He added that in most cases these agencies send junior officers with little or no knowledge about the budget to defend the proposal making it difficult for the National Assembly to make the desired progress.
“We want to report that the Senate is disturbed by a new trend where heads or chief executives of critical institutions who should play a critical role in this budget process but who choose to ignore the invitation by the Senate to appear before it for deliberation.
He called on the executive to wade into the matter to ensure speedy passage of the budget.
