The hard and soft copies of the 2016 budget documents presented to the National Assembly on December 22 by President Muhammadu Buhari have reportedly gone missing.
The Nigerian Senate was scheduled to commence deliberation on the proposed budget Tuesday (today).
However, Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, shocked lawmakers at a closed-door session, when he told them the budget documents had been stolen.
Sources say that Mr. Ndume explained that deliberation on the budget could therefore not begin until fresh copies of the documents were obtained from the presidency, the Ministry of Finance or that of national planning.
The Chairman, Senate Committee of Appropriation, Danjuma Goje, was subsequently mandated to lead a search for the documents and liaise with the presidency, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters, Ita Enang, and the national planning ministry on the matter.
The Senators also resolved that the matter be kept under wraps, saying making it public could embarrass the presidency, the National Assembly and the country.
