On Tuesday, January 12, the Senate were supposed to commence deliberation on the matter but rather held a closed door session to that effect.
Although the lawmakers were trying to keep the matter under wraps because it will embarrass the presidency and the country.
Even after the lawmakers were interviewed on the matter, they denied saying there was no missing budget.
Ali Ndume, the Senate leader when interviewed denied that no budget was missing as Bukola Saraki, the Senate President visited the President based on how the passage of the budget can be fast-tracked.
He said: “The budget cannot be missing. One copy can be laid, it is a symbolic copy, the budget will be in custody of both chamber, it cannot be stolen, it cannot be missing. Once the budget is laid in the National Assembly, it has become the property of National Assembly.
“Saraki’s visit to Vila is for Senate to know President priority, we want to see how we can fastrack the passage of the budget before the end of February. What is before the Senate is proposal, once the president signed it, it cannot be amended, we can turn the budget upside down, it cannot be missing, if it is online you can produce the budget how can he be missing.”
There were still doubts about whether the budget was missing until Sen. Ehinnaya Abaribe representing Abia state stood up on the floor of the senate demanding for explanation from Bukola Saraki, the Senate President to Nigerians.
According to Ita Enang, the Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on National Assembly Matters, a message was communicated on Sunday, January 17 to the National Assembly and the content will be discussed on the floor of the Senate during plenary.
The matter has been on the lips of Nigerians till date curious to find out what happened to the missing budget.
An individual who commented on the video on Nigeria’s biggest forum, Nairaland with the username Kennyman2000 said “Not surprised.We have been used to hearing news of a whole billions of dollars declared missing. News of a mere budget sheet getting missing shouldnt come as a surprise to us. Nigeria is a joke!
Hugh Williams from the same platform also said “this really go a long a way to show how dubious our reps are in this country and some people expect other countries to take us serious.”
Naij.com recalls that there was a delay in the submission of the budget by the President. The Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) document according to law was supposed to have been submitted for approval by August 2015 in line with the four months to the end of the financial year requirement stipulated in the Fiscal Responsibility Act.
However, the senate approved the harmonised version of the 2015 – 2017 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) on Thursday Mar 12, 2015.
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