Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The National Assembly would pass the 2020 Appropriation Bill before the end of year if the Executive presents it to legislators before the end of September.
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, made this known in Abuja on Tuesday at a roundtable with heads of government agencies, development partners and professionals bodies.
Gbajabiamila, who was represented by the Deputy Speaker, Idris Wase, said the House assumed office with a commitment to conduct holistic reforms that would ensure that the government lived up to its responsibilities to Nigerians.
He said that healthcare, education, economy, national security, social justice and social welfare were top of the reform agenda.
“We promised, and we will deliver on our commitment to remove regulatory and policy bottlenecks so that businesses can thrive, and our economy can attract new investment from within and outside our shores,” said the Speaker.
“We are determined to address the problems of our infrastructure deficits by funding critical infrastructure projects across the country, and working with the private sector to devise and implement effective strategies to encourage private sector investment in public works project,” he said.
The speaker expressed the assembly’s commitment to revamp national security and policy framework through implementation of a community policing strategy.
He said the responsibility to manage government expenditure through the appropriations process was the central power of the legislature.
According to him, the government’s intention to deliver on the promise of infrastructure development, improved security, quality education and economic growth, will not be met until a budget framework that adheres to the best practices of effective budget policy is put in place.
Gbajabiamila said that reforming the appropriation process would ensure greater accountability, improved budget implementation and achieve some level of certainty in the process.
He said that stakeholders should have in mind that in pursuing and delivering any honest reforms, there would be the need to make hard choices.
He urged participants at the roundtable not to hesitate to challenge established practices in their deliberations and submissions.
Parastatals present at the meeting include, the Accountant General of the Federation, Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission and the Nigerian Customs Service.
Others are Federal Inland Revenue Service, Nigerian Ports Authority, Nigerian Stock Exchange, Nigerian Labour Congress and some professional bodies.