Politics
2020 Budget: National Assembly To Pass Budget November 28
The leadership of the National Assembly has announced that the legislative house would pass the 2020 budget on November 28, 2019.
The Chairman of the House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Mr Benjamin Kalu, revealed this while addressing journalists shortly after the presentation of the 2020 budget by President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday.
Kalu noted that legislative house had desire to return the budget calendar to January-December.
He said “we are committed to realising this switch from what it used to be to what it ought to be – January-December budget calendar. Luckily enough, the House has inaugurated all the standing committees. The House, in order, to achieve this objective of reversing the calendar will be suspending the plenary – not suspending the House – to enable us to go into our various committees to interact with the MDAs (ministries, departments and agencies. To achieve that, we have set up a road map.”
Kalu also noted that the House would adjourn plenary on Thursday till October 30, 2019, to allow the committees to hold budget defence sessions with Federal Government ministries, departments and agencies. Adding that, the leadership of the house would be meeting with committee on Thursday to deliberate on the swift passage of the bill.
He further noted that public hearing on the budget would be held between October 21 and 22, 2019.
He said “from Wednesday, the 30th of October to Tuesday, the 5th of November, 2019, we are going to have submission and defence of budget reports to the Committee on Appropriations. It is important to note here that the termination date for submission of budget and defence of the same budget will be on the 5th of November. After the 5th of November, we will not accept any submission or defence by any MDA.
“From Wednesday, the 6th of November to the 27th of November, 2019, we are going to have the collation and harmonisation of reports by the Appropriations Committee. It is our expectation – and we are working towards that with this road map we have set – that on the 28th of November, 2019, we will have the presentation of the report by the Committees on Appropriations to the Senate and the House. What it means is that our expectation is that we want to be done with this exercise on the 28 th of November, 2019. We will be done with the budget.
“Our idea is that from the beginning of December 2019, the budget is ready. You are aware that if we are able to achieve this by the first week of December or the last week of November, we will be on time to make sure that from January 2020, we will kick-start with our new budget of 2020. It is a great achievement.”
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