Senate considers revised 2020 budget Thursday

The Senate will on Thursday ( June 11) consider the revised 2020 budget, our correspondent reports.

The President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, gave the hint on Wednesday during plenary after the Committee on Appropriation laid the report on the 2020 revised budget.

“Tomorrow, we can receive and consider the report to ensure that we don’t delay anything as important as that. So, this is the essence of altering the Order Paper,” Lawan said.

Recall that the Senate on June 9, deferred presentation of the report over a delay by the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Hajiya Zainab Ahmed, to provide details for N186 billion.

An amount which is part of the N500 billion COVID-19 Intervention Fund.

The Chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Sen. Barau Jibrin, (APC-Kano) had on June 9 at plenary, explained to his colleagues that the Finance Ministry was yet to comply with the request of the committee.

This is by attaching necessary details for the amount to be captured as part of the 2020 budget amendment bill.

However, the Senate President, at plenary, revealed that the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning had complied with the request of the committee.

Lawan said the ministry had provided the relevant details for the outstanding N186 billion.

The development, according to him, makes it expedient for the upper chamber to consider the revised 2020 budget on Thursday during plenary.