News:Death Of Reps Member Stalls 2016 Budget Passage

 

The House of Representatives yesterday failed to consider the 2016 Appropriation Bill for passage into law because of the death of one of its members, Hon. Musa Baba Onwana from Nasarawa State.

Onwana had died last week Thursday represented Nasarawa/Toto Federal Constituency of the state under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the age of 50.

It is a tradition in the House that whenever a serving member dies, the House will adjourn sitting on the next legislative day in honour of the deceased.

Speaker Yakubu Dogara arrived the Green Chamber at about 11.36am yesterday in company of other principal officers of the House and after the formalities, he set the tone for the mood of the day.

“As you are all aware, today is a sad day for us but because of the overriding national interest, we will take item one (on the Order Paper) and adjourn,” he said.

Consequently, the chairman of the Standing Committee on Appropriations, Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin, was asked to lay the report on the 2016 Budget before the House ahead of its consideration today Wednesday.

Jibrin presented a Bill for an Act to authorise the Issue from the Consolidated Revenue fund of the Federation the total sum of N6.08 trillion.

The breakdown indicates that N351.3 billion is for statutory transfers, N1.475 trillion for debt service and N2. 648 trillion is for recurrent (Non Debt) expenditure.

He further explained that the sum of N86 billion as interest on Capital Loans was for contribution to the Development Fund for capital Expenditure for the Year Ending on the 31st Day of December, 2016.

But the receipt and adoption of the Conference Report on the 2016 – 2018 Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP) of the Federal Government could not be entertained as it was also deferred to Wednesday.