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Members of the Nigeria’s Economic Team, including Kemi Adeosun, minister of finance; Udo Udoma, minister of budget and planning, and Godwin Emefiele, governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), are expected to participate in the maiden national budget public hearing slated to commence today.
Other key cabinet member expected to make presentation at the three-day public hearing holding in the National Assembly, are: Babatunde Fashola, minister of power, works and housing; Audu Ogbeh, minister of agriculture and rural development; minister of Niger Delta, as well as representatives of Civil Society Organisations, Organised labour, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), among others.
Abdulrasak Namdas, chairman, House Committee on Media and Publicity, disclosed on Sunday, that the exercise was aimed at ensuring transparency in the budgetary process in Nigeria and stem the ugly incidence of budget padding as allegedly showcased in the 2016 budget process.
Namdas, who reiterated National Assembly’s resolve to restore public confidence in the appropriation processes of both legislative chambers, noted that the leadership of the House had mandated all substantive committees, which were sub-committees to the Appropriation Committee, to must ensure that all the committee members endorse the final reports on the budget before submission.
According to him, each of the invitees were requested to submit 80 hard copies and two soft copies of memoranda to the Clerk of the Joint Committee on Appropriation on or before Friday 10th February, 2017.
He said: “This is the first time in the history of Nigeria that we are involving such stakeholders all in a bid to ensure that Nigerians have confidence in the whole process.
“The inputs of the stakeholders will go a long way in making the whole process to be transparent thereby allaying the fears of Nigerians from any wrong doing from our own side.
“As you are aware, the House of Representatives have the power to appropriate while the Senate has the power of confirmation but we work in parri passu.
“They (Senate) must concur to all we do so that we can strike a balance at the end of the whole process. Also, henceforth all the substantive committees of the House must ensure that all committee members endorse all reports on the budget before submission.
“Any committee chairman that does not follow this simple instruction is on his own and would be treated as such.
“The House is putting all these structures in place to ensure that the ugly incident of the past are not repeated where only one man signs a report and submit it for approval,” he said.
While responding to the discordant tune over the initiator of the national budget public hearing, Namdas who argued that the initiative was jointly conceived by both chambers said: “It is important for the public to note that the House holds the power for appropriation, while the Senate holds the power for confirmation.
“So it not correct to say that the Senate will hold a public hearing on the 2017 budget. What we have is a joint hearing by the Senate and the House Committees on Appropriations.
“It is therefore important to make things clear so that when there is an action jointly taken by both chambers, it won’t be ascribed to one arm of the legislature, be it the Senate or the House,” Namdas said.
