The Senate, on Tuesday, passed 2014 budget through the second reading.
Senators who commented on the general principles of the budget, on
Tuesday, however, asked that certain aspects of it needed to be reworked, so as
to ensure service delivery for the common man.
However, the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, who presided over
the sitting , had no problem securing a unanimous vote to pass the budget
through the second reading after the deliberations.
The passage paved the way for the standing committees to begin further
legislative work on the budget.
At the sitting, Senators Helen Esuene, Adegbenga Kaka, Chris Iwuagwu ,
Nkechi Nwogu and Olubunmi Adetunmbi all raised issues about the budget, with
some of them declaring that it was lopsided in favour of recurrent expenditure.
Adetunmbi told the Senate to assert itself in the budget process by
asking questions, adding that some provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Act
had not been complied with.
In rounding off the debate, Senator Ekweremadu said the debates were
revealing, adding that some senators brought out issues relating to the
perceived wastages in government.
“The job of the executive is to prepare the budget and our job is to
edit it. Our committees should look critically at the budget to check cases of
wastages,” he said.
Senators, thereafter, passed the budget bill
through the second reading by a unanimous vote.
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