Senate President, Bukola Saraki, said on Thursday the Senate would never surrender its constitutional powers to the Executive Arm of Government under any guise. Saraki noted that even when the Upper Chamber bends backward to accommodate issues such gesture should not be misconstrued to mean weakness or misinterpreted to mean that the constitutional powers assigned to the Senate do not exist. The Senate President was ruling on an Order raised by Deputy Senate Leader, Senator Bala Ibn Na’Allah, on whether or not the National Assembly has powers to alter the Appropriation Bill as presented by the Executive.
The Senate, Saraki insisted, would continue to defend the Constitution and ensure that its actions are covered by the Constitution at all times. Na’Allah drew the attention of his colleagues to a statement credited to thy Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, who said the National Assembly erred to have altered the 2017 Appropriation Bill.
Osinbajo was quoted as saying the National Assembly has no right to introduce new projects or modify those contained in the Appropriation Bill. The acting President also expressed disappointment in the legislature for delaying the passage of the 2017 Appropriation Bill which he signed on Monday. Osinbajo said: “I am sure that we understand not just how to do it right, but to get it done in good time. “This last budget, the President presented it last December. Despite the assurances that it will be passed in by February, it was not passed until May.
“As it turned out, we were quite disappointed that it spent a bit of time before it was approved. And thereafter, we had to go into negotiations with the National Assembly in order to get it right.
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