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Niger Senator advocates more time for thorough legislative activities on annual budget defence
Senator representing Niger South Senatorial District has advocated for more time each year for budget defence to enable the parliament to carry out a thorough and discreet scrutiny and approval of appropriation.
The lawmaker reacting to the just concluded budget defence suggested that a period of three months would be adequate for lawmakers to carry out a thorough legislative activities on budgets of Ministries, Departments and Agencies of government, stressing that bedget defence should not be treated with kid gloves, adding that there should be a review of a particular project after three years..
The Senator shared his perspective while speaking with journalists at the Nattional Assembly in Abuja on Tuesday.
He said “I think the National Assembly to do a just job and a good job for the nation in terms of budget scrutiny and approval, will require nothing less than three months to be able to do it properly.
“Three months in the sense that we need to scrutinize the expenses. We have a template that possibly gives you a view of what happened last year and what is proposed for the new year.
“But I think as far as the review is concerned, we should have three years down the line having regard to a particular project. In the first year, what was budgeted for it? How much has been voted and expended on it? In the second year, what is the extent of work done and what is left and the quantum of money required to finish the job?
Continuing, Jiya said “that allows the lawmakers to have a critical view of the subject matter and to determine the just resource or fund required to complete the job. But the history of most projects are lost because there is no review of up to three years of what has happened to that projects.
“And I think it is not too tidy, it is not too good. Twenty-five years of lawmaking in this dispensation of civilian rule, I think we should have affected that. The other aspect I would like to make an observation on is the issue of distribution of budget defense documents while members are sitting”.
Commenting on the life span of the 2024 that has extended into 2025, he noted that “well, even if one is worried, expediency determines what happens. You have a whole chunk of capital that has not been utilized and the year is gone.
“Do you want to reassess those projects or is it more expedient to extend the lifetime of the budget with a view to be able to utilize the funds allocated to them? And I think I quite agree that we extend it so that those projects will go on.
“Definitely with 2025 budget coming in, it is a build-up on 2024 and where 2024 stops, 2025 will continue” Senator Jiya added.
