Senate gives CBN, NNPC, 36 others 7 days to submit budget
The Senate yesterday gave the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and 35 other federal agencies seven days to submit their budgets.
The agencies are mandated in line with the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007 to submit their budgets to the National Assembly for scrutiny and passage.
The ultimatum was sequel to a motion by the Senate Leader Ahmad Lawan (APC, Yobe) and seconded by the Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu.
Our correspondent reports that delay in the submission of the agencies budget was discussed at the Senate in May this year.
Lawan stressed the need for the agencies to submit their budgets before the commencement of this year’s annual recess of the Senate.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Marine Transport, Senator Ahmad Sani Yarima (APC, Zamfara), said the agencies under his committee have submitted theirs.
In his remark, Senate President Bukola Saraki said their intention was to pass the agencies budget before the annual recess.
“The budget submission by these agencies must be done within a week,” he said.
Daily Trust reports that the 2016 budget of the affected agencies was submitted in July of the same year by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Other affected agencies are Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), National Maritime Authority (NMA), Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Nigerians Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), Nigerians Immigration Service (NIS), Federal Housing Authority (FHA), Federal Mortgage Bank (FMB) and Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), amongst others.