Senate considers 2020 revised budget today

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the Senate will today consider the revised 2020 budget.

The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, gave the hint on Wednesday during plenary after the Committee on Appropriation laid the report on the 2020 revised budget.

“Tomorrow (Thursday), we can receive and consider the report to ensure that we don’t delay anything as important as that. So, this is the essence of altering the order paper,” Lawan said.

It would be recalled that the upper legislative chamber has on Tuesday deferred presentation of the report over a delay by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, to provide details for the sum of N186 billion, an amount which is part of the N500 billion COVID-19 intervention fund.

Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, Senator Barau Jibrin, on Tuesday had explained to his colleagues that the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning was yet to comply with the request of the Committee by attaching necessary details for the amount to be captured as part of the 2020 budget amendment bill.

However, the Senate President yesterday disclosed that the ministry had complied with the request of the Appropriations Committee by providing the relevant details for the outstanding N186 billion.

The development, according to him, makes it expedient for the upper chamber to consider the revised 2020 budget today during plenary.