Senate President Godswill Akpabio has said that he has never seen the budget of the National Assembly. He recently had his say during the presentation of a motion that sought to establish an Internal Tender Board for the National Assembly, sponsored by Senator Sunday Karimi, APC, Kogi West.
Calling for transparency in the area of budget, Akpabio insisted that greater transparency in the legislature’s budgeting and financial management must be guaranteed before any procurement reforms.
His words, “Personally, I have not seen the budget of the National Assembly. Senator Tambuwal, you were a Speaker, I don’t know, maybe in the House of Representatives, they showed you.”
Senator Adamu Aliero added, “Two of the problems that we have in the National Assembly regarding the management of finances and the budget do not solely lie in the process of procurement. The problem has been that the National Assembly has not set up a Budget and Research Office.
What is happening today is that we don’t even know and we don’t even see the budget of the National Assembly being presented here so that we can interrogate and understand the lines of expenditure.
My opinion is that the Senator should step down this motion. Let us get the house right first before we talk about the issues that the Distinguished Senator Karimi is raising.”
