The Joint National Assembly Appropriations Committee announced on Monday that it had finalised plans to pass the 2024 appropriation bill by the end of the week.
The panel set a 48-hour deadline for all subcommittees to submit their budget reports for 2024. This was in preparation for President Bola Tinubu to sign the N27.5 trillion appropriation bill into law before the end of December.
The chairman of the appropriation committee, Senator Solomon Adeola, made the assertions at the sitting of the panel yesterday.
In his opening remarks at the session, Adeola enjoined all the sub-committees to keep to the deadline to enable the National Assembly to meet the January-December budget cycle.
“I am appealing to all my colleagues. Please, I am ready, and the deadline is Wednesday this week to receive all reports from all standing committees of the senate.
“By Wednesday, any agency or any committee that has not submitted their report before the committee will assume that you are giving us the omnibus power to go ahead and treat your budget independently of that committee.
“So, we are appealing to all chairmen of various committees to, please, submit their reports on or before Wednesday this week.
The senator hoped the budget would be passed upon the resumption of plenary by the National Assembly on December 20.
“But without this submission before the committee, there is little or nothing we can do, and as you are all aware, the tradition of the National Assembly is to pass the budget into law by the 31st of December of every year,” he stated.
In the sub-committee reports submitted on Monday, the lawmakers raised the issue of the 136 Nigerians trapped in Ethiopian prisons.
They also spoke about the N5 billion proposed in the budget to revamp the Obudu Cattle Ranch in Cross River State.
The Tourism Committee, chaired by Senator Ireti Kingibe, and the Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations Committee, chaired by Senator Victor Umeh, led the way in submitting their respective reports.
While submitting his report, Umeh said some of the 136 Nigerians serving various jail terms had sought to be transferred to Nigeria to serve out their punishment. He told the committee that the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), which was responsible for handling their matter, was handicapped due to poor funding.
Umeh revealed that the commission was given a budget of N1.2 billion for 2024, out of which N652.9 million was earmarked for capital expenditure. He said, looking at the workload of NIDCOM, N4.9 billion was recommended by his committee as the agency’s capital budget.
Responding, Adeola promised that the committee on appropriation would review the report and find a way to shore up the budget of NIDCOM, “considering the very important work they have been doing.”