The budget drama at the House of Representatives
continued on Monday as the Joint Committees on
Telecommunications/Information Communication
Technologies again stopped the Minister of
Communications, Mr. Adebayo Shittu, from defending his
ministry’s budget proposal.
The House had last week turned the minister away on the
grounds that his ministry’s budget proposal was different
from President Muhammadu Buhari’s proposals.
The session with the minister was barely five minutes in
progress when one of the co-chairmen, Mr. Saheed Fijabi,
asked that the meeting should be called off.
Fijabi said, “We are dealing with two budgets here. What the
minister is presenting is different from what Mr. President
gave us.“We have to agree on whether to accept his own or we stop
him and take another date.”
His colleagues, led by Mr. Mohammed Onawo, backed
Fijabi.
“Onawo said, “The power of appropriation lies with the
legislature and we are bound by law to do what is right.
“From the figures available to us, we have to work in the
interest of the nation. We have to do the needful.”
The session ended abruptly as Shittu was directed to take
the budget back and re-work it.
Shittu earlier gave the highlights of the budget as N5bn
(capital projects); N600m (personnel cost); and N240m
(overhead cost).
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives Committee on
Appropriation said on Monday that the 2016 budget would
be passed “not later than second week of March” by the
National Assembly.
The Chairman of the committee, Mr. Abdulmumin Jibrin,
made the disclosure in Abuja as the standing committees of
the House began to submit their reports to the
Appropriation Committee for collation.
The PUNCH observes that the House will have three sitting
days in the second week of March — March 8, March 9 and
March 10.
This implies that the budget should be passed latest on
March 10.
Jibrin said the House procedure was that each standing
committee, after concluding the defence of budget
proposals by agencies under their supervision, would
submit a report to the Committee on Appropriation.
He added that the Committee on Appropriation was the
clearing house for all recommendations on any
amendments made to the proposals of the agencies.
Jibrin spoke more, “We are taking the reports from the
committees beginning from today (Monday). We want to
pass the budget not later than second week of March.
“We will take the reports of the standing committees up to
Friday and take another few days to clean up the budget.”
Jibrin added that after compiling the reports of the
committees, the Committee on Appropriation would invite
the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, to clarify
“whenever it is necessary to do so.”
The first committee to lay its report on Monday was the
Committee on Federal Road Safety Corps.
The committee is headed by Mr. Abubakar Yinusa.
The committee recommended the slashing of the agency’s
Internet access charge from N18m to N10m.
It also reduced the amount of money proposed for
maintenance of vehicles from N79m to N59m.
The proposal of N122m for fuelling of vehicles was reduced
to N50m, leaving the sub-head with N72m.
The committee moved the funds to other sub-heads such as
international training and publicity.
The committee recommended N40m for publicity on the
grounds that the FRSC needed more funds to sensitise
drivers to safe driving and how motorists could apply the
new technologies deployed by the corps. www.punchng.com/drama-as-reps-stop-minister-from-budget-defence/ cc: Lalasticlala Mynd44

They should be done with this budget, the economy is suffering.

This is good for democracy in as much as they're not too political

1st, it was stollen
2nd, it was padded.
3rd it was a budget of yam.

4th this man is presenting a different thing from what his Oga earlier presented.


Apc are just not serious.

It is either pmb does not know what he is doing or his cabinet are a big mess.

Either way, naija is doomed, @least for now.

APC na big scam...

Chnge u can see I doff my hat for these apc goons

Only in Nigeria.

When we say an educated person at is needed at helm of affairs, they say even if he presents NEPA bill as a cerficate, they are okey. Now look at how his apointees are outsmarting him because the know he is not sound(thank God for Reps).
A minister attempting to defend a budget different from what the president had presented. Who is the Boss?

PMB should apologise to the nation on national TV, gussh I'm disgusted

Budget of poundo yam

Buhari and his rats have turned Nigeria into a joke

But honestly speaking guys, if Buhari were CEO of a company and he presented a budget characterized with flaws and denials by his subordinates, wouldn't the Board of Directors have recommended that the CEO be sacked? It's either he's not in charge or he's brain-dead to lead the organization.
This old man is a misfit in Aso Rock, and am ashamed to tell the world that he's my country's president.