New Telegraph

Budget: Buhari raised natural, logical observations – Senate President

Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, has said that the observations raised by President Muhammmadu Buhari at the budget signing ceremony were natural and logical.

The Senate President said this in an interaction with State House Correspondents shortly after the President signed the 2022 Appropriation Bill into law at the Presidential Villa Friday.

Lawan, who noted that the President was happy with most of the contents of the budget, said the observations were not things that people should worry about adding that both the executive and the legislature would iron out their differences.

Asked about his reaction to Buhari’s objections to some insertions into the budget, Lawan said: “I think the most important thing is, Mr. President is happy with majority of what the National Assembly has done and that is the most critical thing that we need to focus on. As for the observations Mr. President has raised, this is a natural and logical tendency between the executive and the legislature.

“Sometimes our views on certain issues may not be necessarily the same kind of views that the executive will have and hold on any particular matter. So I don’t think what the President did, by raising some observations as something that we should worry about. I’m happy that the President signed the budget in the first place. And he said, it’s going back to the National Assembly to seek for amendments or virement , and this natural, logical, legislative process. So I’m happy that we have done our own part in our own way.”

Rationalizing the increase made by the lawmakers to the initial budget estimates, the Senate President said: “This is based on judgments when we asked for more resources coming from the independent sources, especially from the government owned  enterprises of about N400 to N500 billion is because we believe that this government-owned enterprises should contribute even much more. In fact, I hold the opinion that they should have contributed about a trillion, at least not N500 billion or so. So I believe that the National Assembly was right in its judgment, but there is nothing wrong in the executive arm of government coming back to the National Assembly to see how we’re able to dialogue and go through the process and see where the misunderstanding is. But I don’t think that is supposed to be worrisome development for us.”

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