2017 budget: Why NASS leadership met with Osinbajo – Spokesman

The leadership of the National Assembly has revealed why it met with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo during the Easter recess.
Abdulrazak Namdas, Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Media and Public Affairs who made the revelation on Monday said the purpose of the parley was to put both the Legislature and the Executive on the same page concerning the 2017 budget.

The lawmaker said that since the National Assembly and the presidency had agreed on key aspects of the Budget, it will ensure speedy passage of the budget.
He said: “The topmost priority will be the passage of the budget. We want to ensure that within a few weeks, the budget will be passed.
“I can tell you that during the Easter break, the leadership of the National Assembly met with the Executive over the budget so that budget will be streamlined in a manner that it tallies with priority areas of the Federal Government and I can tell you that if this budget is passed, there will no little or no issues with the Executive implementing it”.

He said important legislations which both chambers have to harmonize are the amendment of the Electoral Act 2010 as passed by Senate on Thursday, March 30 where in the Senate version passed include the use of electronic voting in future elections and electronically transmission of results to collation centers.
“Any bill that is passed by the Senate must be given concurrence by the House and vice-versa. But you also have to understand that concurrence by either House of the National Assembly is not automatic, neither is the rule that the bill be passed the exact manner it was sent to either house.
“But what is important is that we will work hard to pass bills that will enhance good governance on time,” he stated.

Namdas also said that the House has been serious with carrying its constitutional responsibility of investigations, adding that in spite of the dissolution of ad hoc committees by the Speaker, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, inquiries into issues by the House would not be truncated. According to him such probes would also be done in a “timely manner,” he said.
“The Speaker dissolved ad hoc committees but my understanding is that next action on investigations undertaken by these committees will either be taken over by standing committees or be reassigned as decided by the leadership of the House.”