Senate may pass budget next week

Senate Leader Ahmed Lawan on Thursday said the Senate would conclude legislative work on the 2017 appropriation bill next week and pass it to President Muhammadu Buhari for assent.
At the end of a meeting with Buhari, the senate leader said that the National Assembly had intended to pass the bill in March but could not.
“The good news is that we are doing everything possible to catch up the lost time and that by the grace of God I am thinking that by next week we should be able to finish our own work and pass the budget for Mr President to sign.’’
The Senate Leader also confirmed that the Senate would screen the two ministerial nominees from Kogi and Adamawa as well as others who require confirmation by next week.
On his visit to the President, he said that it was to get the right executive briefings as part of his responsibility to market all executive bills’ request.
“I have come to meet Mr President as part of my continuous engagement with the executive to ensure that I get my briefings right so that I can always market Presidential and executive requests.
“This is supposed to be a continuous process and that is essentially why I have come to see Mr President,’’ he added.
He said such interaction should be maintained in the country in spite of the independence of the three arms of government.
“I know clearly that there is independence of each arms and I also know equally well that there is so much interdependence between the two arms or even the three arms of government in Nigeria.
“Therefore, we need to always close and narrow the gap,’’ the Senate Leader said.