The House of Representatives has said that it would begin to assess budget proposals for the 2022 budget once it resumes on Tuesday next week.
This was disclosed by the Chairman, House Committee on Rules and Business, Abubakar Fulata, while speaking with journalists in Abuja.
Fulata said that the House looked forward to hearing President Muhammadu Buhari address the National Assembly, presenting the 2022 Appropriations bill.
He said, “The most important issue immediately we resume on Tuesday next week, will be that of the 2022 budget proposal. You remember that Mr. President and the Executive have submitted MTEF 2022-2024, an extension of the budget that Mr. President will lay before the National Assembly.
“So we will be looking forward to this month to hearing from the President the date he would come to address the joint session of the National Assembly and present the 2022 Appropriations bill. Then the House will now invite the Ministries Departments and Agencies to defend the proposals.
“We are also facing the issue of security, now that the security forces have gathered a lot of momentum and a lot of successes are being achieved in terms of the war against terrorism, banditry and abductions those also will be on the front burner of the National Assembly.
“Environmental issues leading to floodings and so forth will also be very very important for us because a lot of Communities have been decimated by floodings and so forth. So these are briefly those issues that will be of concern to us immediately we resume.
“It’s very important, immediately we resume also there are a lot of bills seeking to amend various sections of the Constitution. Unlike other bills, bills dealing with Constitutional amendment must be passed by two-third majority of the House and Senate and then would be passed by two-third majority at the State Houses of Assembly.
“So we would vote on those issues, those that will pass will pass, those that will pass Third Reading at the National Assembly will be submitted before the States for their votes.”
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Fulata noted the limitations of the Federal Government in achieving many of its projects due to the “financial crunch”, which have also negatively impacted a variety of issues affecting the nation.
He said, “First of all, we resumed at a point where the country had various challenges in terms of security, in terms of finance and then Covid-19. So Covid affected virtually all strata of the society and it inhibited economic activities, the lockdown prevented people from even going to the market, talkless of even going to their offices.
“The financial crunch made it impossible for the government to implement very very laudable and legacy projects. And the security challenges also impacted negatively on a lot of issues. Yet the House was able to function, we reduced our plenary days from three to, first of all, one day and later we upgraded it to two days per week, then we commenced normal sittings.
“Yet we are able to achieve a lot within those constraints, the House was able to process about 1,795 bills, we were able to pass 85 of those bills at Third Reading. A lot of issues, we were able to reverse the previous trend where budgets are not passed on time but now budgets are now passed on time and we have reverted to the January-December calendar. So with all these constraints, we were able to achieve a lot in the House.”
