The Presidency and the National Assembly inched towards resolving the controversies surrounding the 2016 budget on Friday following alleged “fruitful exchange of ideas” between Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr. Yakubu Dogara.
The House of Representatives had on Wednesday resolved to “re-examine” the budget for the sake of “overriding national interest and the prevailing economic situation in the country.”
Members took the decision after a two-hour closed-door session, where they mandated Dogara to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari to find a common ground on the dispute.
“The House in executive session, was briefed by the Chairman, House Committee on Appropriation, Mr. Abdulmumin Jibrin, on the budget.
“We delegated the speaker to go ahead and engage the executive, identify the areas of concern and report back to the House.
“If the issues of concern are of national interest, we will look at them again by accommodating them in the budget”, the Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Abdulrazak Namdas, had told reporters soon after the closed-door session of the House.
In the absence of Buhari, Saturday PUNCH gathered that Dogara met with Osinbajo instead.
Findings by Saturday PUNCH showed that the Presidency, in the course of the exchange of ideas, itemised the “grey areas” in the N6.06trn budget, politely requesting the National Assembly re-work them.
“What happened was that the speaker received a list of items from the VP and the understanding is that the National Assembly should retain some of the provisions in the budget the way they came from the executive.
“There were distortions, which were itemised and they are to be re-worked and retained the way they came originally from the executive”, a senior legislative official, who was privy to the development, confided in Saturday PUNCH in Abuja on Friday.
Investigations showed that, flowing from the understanding, a letter from the Presidency to formalise the understanding is expected to be read on the floor of the House on Tuesday, next week.
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