Despite recession, the National Assembly is set to increase its budgetary allocation in the 2017 budget to N150 billion from N115 billion.
According to reports by Daily Sun, there is a agreement among leadership of the Senate and the House of Representatives that to increase its budgetary allocation in the 2017 budget.
“You can take my word to the bank that the National Assembly is going to increase its allocation to a minimum of N150billion to ensure that we can meet our financial obligations,” the source said.
The current allocation has led to many challenges the leadership of the National Assembly has struggled to manage such as delays in the payment of lawmakers’ wages, months of unpaid salaries of legislative aides and the inability of lawmakers to travel for international summits as frequently as their predecessors,” he said.
The source also confirmed plans to increase the budget of the 469-member National Assembly, legislative aides, the National Assembly Commission and the Legislative Institute, said it has to be done to mitigate the effect of inflation and the crash of the naira.
The lawmaker who spoke with the newspaper said if the vote to the judiciary was increased, that of the National Assembly must be increased also.
Recall that the President announced the increase in the allocation to the judiciary, saying it will further enhance their independence.
The budget to the National Assembly has remained a subject of controversy with the legislature getting N150 billion from 2011 to 2015.
Despite the reduction of the allocation to N115 billion in 2016 following public criticism, Senate President Bukola Saraki, in response to calls for a transparency, promised to give a breakdown of National Assembly budget in May, but he was yet to do so.
credit:naij.com
Comments
Post a Comment