Missing Budget: Senate Reverses Itself; Refutes Search Committee

Posted by African Examiner Featured, Latest Headlines, News Wednesday, January 13th, 2016

Ayodele Afolabi, Abuja

The Senate has reversed itself on the committee it set up to search for the alleged missing 2016 proposed budget.

Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi Wednesday denied that no statement made by any Senator during the day’s plenary on that could be interpreted to mean an admission that the 2016 budget is indeed missing.

Abdullahi insisted that there is no budget missing, adding that the Senate would Thursday distribute copies of the proposed bill to all the Senators so as to enable them properly contribute to the debate which will take place between Tuesday, January 19 and Thursday, January 21, 2015.

Already, all senators have indicated the date they will make their contributions on the proposed budget.

Abdullahi explained that during Wednesday’s plenary, when Senator Eyinaya Abaribe sought for clarification on the story in the media surrounding the information that the copy of the 2016 budget submitted to the Senate was missing and sought to know update on the issue.

The Senate President replied that the issue he (Abaribe) mentioned and all issues emanating from the executive sessions were being looked into by an adhoc committee and that all Senators should wait for the committee to submit its report.

“We have reeled out our time table for working on the budget. So, how can the same budget be missing? The Senate President never said or admitted that the budget is missing and there was nothing that he said while presiding over the plenary that could be logically interpreted to mean am admission that the budget is missing.

“The media should please avoid unnecessary sensationalism. We assure Nigerians that our time table of completing works on the budget by February ending remains sacrosanct and we will work assiduously to achieve it”, the Senate Spokesman cautioned.