By Laleye Dipo in Minna
The Niger State House of Assembly has decried the late presentation of the 2018 Appropriation Bill to the legislature for consideration, saying the attitude is responsible for the delay in the passage of the financial estimates of the state.
The 2018 budget was presented before the legislature mid January almost the same time previous budgets were submitted since 2016.
The Chairman of the House Committee on Appropriation, Alhaji Bashir Lokogoma, who made the observation while submitting the report of his committee to the House plenary said: “The late submission of the budget also resulted in hasty scrutiny to ensure speedy passage.”
Lokogoma therefore said the appropriation committee recommended that the executive arm of government should “lay the budget before the House at least the first week of October every year”.
He said the House was also unhappy about the discovery of “lack of synergy between the Ministry of Finance and the state Planning Commission in budget preparation and implementation”.
Details later…
