JOHN AMEH, OLALEKAN ADETAYO and LEKE BAIYEWU
The House of Representatives recorded an improvement in the turnout by heads of ministries, departments and agencies to defend their proposals for the 2018 budget last week, SUNDAY PUNCH has learnt.
At least, 11 agencies reportedly showed up to defend their proposals before the committees as of Friday.
Investigations indicated that the lawmakers were hopeful that if the trend continued, the April 24 deadline, set for the passage of the N8.612trillion budget, might be met.
An official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, “The President’s sack threat sent shivers down the spines of some ministers and heads of agencies.
“Last week, a number of them came to defend their proposals or sent officials knowledgeable in budget matters to answer lawmakers’ questions.”
The Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Mr. Abdulrazak Namdas, confirmed that appearances during last week’s sessions improved.
It was, however, learnt on Saturday that both chambers of the National Assembly would hold public hearing on the budget but no date had been fixed for the exercise.
The Vice-Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Ben Murray-Bruce, who told our correspondent on Saturday that the exercise would be conducted, however said he did not know the date yet.
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source http://punchng.com/more-mdas-rush-to-defend-budget-in-nassembly/
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