From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
FORMER Senate President Ken Nnamani and his counterpart in the House of Representatives, ex-Speaker Aminu Masari, have advised the Federal Government and the National Assembly to end the budget impasse in the interest of the country.
On his part, Nnamani said the continued delay in signing the Appropriation Bill into law was not in anybody’s interest, and noted that the country was now in the second quarter of the year without a budget.
The two former helmsmen in gthe National Assembly were at the Presidential Villa to meet with President Muhammadu Buhari on the budget.
The two chambers of the National Assembly passed the 2016 budget three weeks ago and forwarded details to Presiden Buharifor assent. The president did not sign when he noticed some discrepancies in the version passed by the lawmakers.
The deadline for the president to sign the 2016 budget as presented to him on March 23 passed at the weekend.
Nnamani, who said as a former national leader, has the right to be at the villa to discuss issues of national importance with the president, advised the National Assembly to do what he called “introspection,” to find out “how the nation got to where we are, locate where the fault is and find quick solution, urging both the executive and legislature to cooperate and collaborate to end the budget controversy.
In a similar vein, Masari, who is governor of Katsina State, backed the president’s decision not to sign the Appropriation Bill into law until he properly studies it. He said having recently signed the Katsina State budget, he did so after ensuring he knew what he was signing. “ You know I am now an executive and I signed budget for Kastina State and before I did that, I made sure I knew what I am signing for”, he said.