Senate moves to reform budget process

Senate President, Bukola Saraki, yesterday inaugurated a committee to reform the country’s budget process.

Inaugurating the committee which has Senate Leader, Ali Ndume as chairman, Saraki said the National Assembly would implement reforms that would help open up the budget process to greater scrutiny.

He said the reforms would create roadmaps that would lead to the passage and implementation of budgets.

“For us in the 8th National Assembly, we are ready to open a new chapter and lay a new foundation on which an effective budget process can be built. This is the task on our hands. The country’s annual budgets are yet to be fully aligned with our development goals from conceptualization, approval and implementation of our annual budgets, there is need to converge our budgeting to national planning, continuity and efficiency, hence the need to revisit the process,” he said.

The senate president said at the end of committee’s assignment, the senate would receive a comprehensive budget reform proposal that would enhance passage of a budget bill to close the structural and procedural gaps that limit transparency and accountability in the budget process and fiscal discipline.

Other members of the committee include; Senator Mohammed Danjuma Goje, Senator Baba Kaka Garba, Hon. Orker Jev Emmanuel and the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma.