From Fred Itua, Abuja
President of the Senate Ahmad Lawan on Tuesday said the National Assembly will pass the 2023 Appropriation Bill of N20.5 trillion before the end of December.
He made this known at a reception organised in his honour as a recipient of the national honour award of
Grand Commander of the Order of Niger (GCON).
President Muhammadu Buhari had on Friday, presented the 2023 budget of N20.5 trillion before a joint session of the National Assembly.
The budget is tagged “Budget of Fiscal Sustainability and Transition”.
In his speech, Lawan said that by Wednesday, the Senate would begin debate on the bill.
He said: “Wednesday we will start the debate on the 2023 appropriation bill. Like we did before for the three previous sessions, we are going to pass it before the end of December.
“We are purposeful and we are focused. It’s not for nothing that the presidency decided to give us 12 honours.
“They know our contribution to not only the administration of good governance but also the stability of the polity.
“I strongly believe that the national assembly of today has provided so much input into political stability in Nigeria because our records are there.
“People can look at what we have done and also those things that we didn’t do. I believe that our colleagues in the 9th senate worked so hard.”
On the number of female senators, the Senate president said: “We don’t know why the number is small but they have capacity. These are very experienced legislators.
“We wish to see more female legislators. It is only logical that you get more or half of the population than we have today,” he said.
On the national honour, Lawan said that it was a special day for the National Assembly.
“The number of recipients from the Senate this time is the highest. Every senator deserves the award.”