From Fred Itua, Abuja
The Senate, on Thursday, failed to pass the 2023 Appropriation Bill (budget) into law, blaming its inability on a messy copy submitted to a joint session by President Muhammadu Buhari in October.
President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, while adjourning plenary, however, said the Senate and the House of Representatives will reconvene next Wednesday to pass the budget in order to beat the 31st December deadline.
Lawan said: “The reason why we couldn’t pass the budget is because what was brought to us was not a clean copy. Our committee on Appropriation had to clean the copies, in collaboration with the Executive arm.
“The problem came from them, that’s the Executive. The cleaning of the budget was concluded yesterday, Wednesday. The Secretariat couldn’t work on the copies of the budget.
“The earliest time we can pass the budget will be next Wednesday, 28th of December. This is a festive period. People need to go on holidays. Next Wednesday, our members and those in the House of Representatives, will pass the budget.
“Finance committee is holding its public hearing too. But the time is too short. We received a new request on Wednesday. The Senate needs to adjourn to allow our committees to get to work.”