The Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, has explained why the National Assembly did not pass the 2023 Appropriation Bill on time.
Lawal cited the long cleaning process the draught budget proposal underwent, among others, noting, “Committees on Appropriation from both chambers couldn’t meet up with the submission of the report for consideration and passage on Thursday.
However, there were hints of this when the budget report was not listed on the Order Paper for Thursday’s legislative activities.
Following a 15-minute closed-door session, Senate President Ahmad Lawan announced that the National Assembly will be unable to debate the 2023 budget due to irreconcilable figures discovered by Appropriation committees in both Chambers.
Lawan, however, blamed the executive arm of government for submitting the budget proposal very late and when it was laid, it came with errors.
He also said that the process of cleaning the errors contained in the Appropriation bill was concluded on Wednesday, “adding that the two chambers have to harmonise the copy to be able to present the report for passage by both chambers.”
Lawan also assured that the implementation of the proposed budget will still commence on January 1, 2023.