By Olusegun Lawrence. Nigerian Senate has given 37 federal agencies one week ultimatum within which to submit thier 2017 budgets for consideration and passage.
The Upper Chamber handed down the ultimatum at plenary on Wednesday following a Point of Order raised by Senate Leader, Senator Ahmad Lawan.
He called the attention of the lawmakers to the refusal of the affected agencies to submit their budgets for consideration.
Some of the agencies concerned are the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) , Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Nigeria Port Authority, NPA, NIMASA, CBN, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), National Maritime Authority (NMA), Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) among others.
Lawan had while moving the motion explained the need for the agencies to submit their budgets before the the lawmakers embark on their annual recess.
Contributing, the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu urged the affected agencies to quickly comply with the Fiscal Responsibility Act by submitting the budget for consideration in National Assembly.
Ruling that the budgets must be submitted within a week, Senate President Senator Bukola Saraki said the intention was to pass the agencies’ budget before the Senate proceeds on annual recess.
