…..warns committee members against moving project to non relevant agencies
By Gift Chapi Odekina
The House of Representatives has disclosed that it will be targeting December 16, 2021 to do final passage of the 2022 Appropriation Bill currently being processed.
The House had earlier on Thursday passed the Bill for the second reading stage, after two days of extensive debate on its general principles.
Chairman of the Appropriation committee, Rep. Mukhtar Betara Made the disclosure during a meeting of the Committee, said the committee will expectantly lay its report on December 14 for the House’s consideration on the 15th, and subsequent third reading and passage on the 16th, advising committee members to be diligent.
While informing his colleagues that the meeting was necessitated by the need to streamline the way forward after the House has referred the Bill to the committee, he said work on the document will commence earnestly next Monday, adding that guidelines will be released to all standing committees, which by budgeting tradition, are sub-panels to the Appropriations Committee.
“We’re going to be more careful on recurrent expenditure. No money should be taken from recurrent to the capital expenditure, and no money from capital to recurrent, unless where it is absolutely necessary”, Betara said, advising members to guide the subcommittees they may be posted to, as the process of budget defence commences.
The lawmaker also warned members to desist from the practice of moving their zonal intervention projects to Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) which had no mandate to execute such projects, explaining that the practice has led to multiple return of such projects.
“As members of this committee, you have to look at the subcommittee you assigned to you, and guide them in line with the guideline the clerk will make available to you on Monday. We need to do a very clean job”, he submitted.
ENDS.
