Senate, Reps face-off: It’s disappointing – Presidency
From AMOS DUNIA, Abuja
Friday, November 20, 2009

The Presidency on Thursday expressed concern and disappointment over the crisis between the two chambers of the National Assembly which led to the deferment of the presentation of 2010 Appropriation Bill to the joint session of the federal legislature by President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.

Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters, Senator Mohammed Abbah-Aji, told National Assembly correspondents at a press conference that following the amount of work and preparation put in to ensure the presentation of the budget, the Presidency was certainly not comfortable with the development.

Senator Abbah-Aji said that the scheduled presentation did not hold owing to the policy of non-interference with respect to separation of powers, adding that the Presidency would have no choice but to allow the legislators time to put their acts together.
Senator Abbah-Aji noted that the federal legislators ought to have appreciated the fact that the 2010 budget was a major event and not an executive budget or congressional budget..

According to Senator Abbah-Aji: “We have put in our best and this budget is a major budget, it is not just an executive budget or congressional budget, it is a budget that has taken all sides, everybody’s inputs. This is a truly national budget that is coming.”
The Presidential Adviser, however, said that efforts were being made by both the ruling party and the presidency towards ensuring that the two chambers take less time to resolve their differences.

“I have not come here to discuss the problems of the two chambers. I do not want to speculate into that. I am sure that they are capable of resolving their differences and it is not something that is new. This kind of thing happens in bicameral legislatures all 0ver the world. So, it is not something that they will not be able to put behind them. We are confident that they are capable of doing that very soon, we are, nonetheless, giving them time to do so,” Senator Abbah-Aji stressed.

Commenting on insinuations that the crisis might have been instigated by the executive arm of government owing to the state of health of President Yar’Adua that might not enable him to withstand the rigours of long presentation, Senator Abbah-Aji said that the President was in perfect health.

The Presidential Adviser also denied rumours that the budget was not ready for presentation to the joint session of the National Assembly, stressing that “I can tell you categorically because I am member of the Presidential Budget Committee, the budget has been ready long time ago, even the President’s speech is ready, and we do not need excuses such as this.”
He further said; “Besides if you look at the provision of section 81 of the constitution, it just says that the President shall cause to be prepared and be laid before each chamber of the National Assembly, so we do not need excuses such as this. We are ready with the budget.”

Senator Abbah-Aji also explained that laying the budget or presentation of the budget before the National Assembly has come by convention, practice and tradition, adding that it was not something the Presidency was refusing to do but merely allowing for time.
“No, the budget is not coming late. This year’s budget has been prepared in good time. If we had presented it as scheduled today, in fact, it would have been presented a month earlier than we presented it last year. This year, we are confident, the executive and the legislature alike, that we will have a budget passed before this year runs out so that the implementation will commence in January and we are still on that,” he concludeded.

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