Senate refers INEC Budget, others to committees, urges FG to raise investigative panel on General Alkali

The Senate has referred executive communication on President Muhammadu Buhari’s request for approval of Independent National Electoral Communication (INEC) 2019 election budget to Committee on Appropriation.
The committee was asked to report back to plenary on Thursday.
Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, at plenary on Wednesday also referred the request for approval of $2.8 billion loan from International Capital Market and a loan of $82.5 million to Committee on Local and Foreign Debts.
The committee was asked to report back to senate on Tuesday.
Furthermore, the executive communication on Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) 2018 Statutory Budget Proposal was also referred to the Committee on NDDC for further legislative action.
However, the time frame for submission of this was not given. 
The Senate also called on the Federal Government to constitute a panel to investigate the disappearance of Major-General Idris Alkali and the recovery of some vehicles from a mining pond in Plateau State.
The Senate made the call via a resolution, following a motion moved by Senator Mohammed Hassan (APC-Yobe South) and seconded by the Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu.
About four vehicles have so far been pulled out of the mining pond by investigators searching for the retired army officer who mysteriously disappeared on September 3.
One of the recovered vehicles is a Toyota car belonging to Alkali, who was said to be travelling to Bauchi through the Du Road where the pond is located, shortly before his disappearance.
The lawmakers urged the government, through the proposed panel, to identify and interrogate possible suspects in the “dastardly act and ensure the perpetrators were brought to justice’’.
They said that this would serve as deterrent to other criminal elements “in the strongest possible terms.
The senators condemned the act and urged all communities in the neighbourhoods adjacent to the spot where the vehicles were recovered to cooperate with security agencies in efforts to unravel the mystery.
They also urged the security agencies to intensify their efforts to find Alkali and other missing Nigerians across the country.
While moving the motion, Hassan expressed concern over the disappearance of commuters on the Du road, particularly Bauchi-bound travellers, in the past few years, calling for urgent intervention to address the situation.
He, however, commended the Nigerian Army and security agencies involved in the search for Alkali for their thoroughness which, he noted, led them to the pond where the vehicles were recovered.