The Senate has fixed Wednesday to debate cases of violations of Fiscal Responsibility Act by some Federal Government revenue-generating agencies.
The decision followed a Point of Order by the Deputy Leader of the Senate, Bala Na’Allah, at plenary on Tuesday.
He said that revenue-generating agencies of government had refused to submit their 2017 fiscal proposals to the National Assembly, contrary to regulations.
Presenting the order, Na’Allah said that it was his responsibility to collate the agencies’ budgets and submit to the chamber for consideration, but said that he was yet to receive the proposals.
He said that the proposals ought to have been submitted to him by the agencies since September, 2016.
“I am the one responsible for the collation of reports and we have not received one single report regarding the budget of parastatals, which were supposed to have been given by September, 2016.
“I want to put it on record that we have not received any report. I don’t know whether the chairmen of committees have received.
“The Senate must rise and fight every form of corruption in the country,’’ he said.
The deputy leader of the senate said that the chamber was determined to support the Federal Government in the fight against corruption by ensuring that individuals and agencies obeyed relevant laws.
“I decided that I will bring this on the floor so that senators will understand the implication.
“In our commitment to assist this government to fight corruption, we must stamp our feet that every spirit of our laws must be obeyed by those holding public office.
“The only approach that this Senate can adopt to assist this government in fighting corruption is to insist that gross abuse of power and misuse of power is stopped.
“The only way we can build institutions is to radically address the issue of abuse of power and misuse of power,’’ he said.
After Na’Allah’s submission, the lawmakers said that the refusal of the agencies to do the needful was a violation of the Fiscal Responsibility Act and would not be tolerated.
It resolved to come up with a motion on Wednesday to “comprehensively debate on the matter and take a decision on the alleged illegal operations of the establishments’’.
In his remarks, President of the Senate, Dr Bukola Saraki, said that the senate must take the matter seriously and ensure that institutions of government respected the laws of the land.
He condemned the practice where agencies of government spent money without statutory approval by the national assembly and ruled that the issue be debated and resolution taken on Wednesday.
“This is a very serious issue because as we all know that in line with the Fiscal Responsibility Act, these things are meant to have been submitted since August, 2016 and was to come with the 2017 Appropriation Bill.
“We have now passed the budget and there is no report from the agencies.
“I think this matter really needs to come as a motion because it’s a very serious matter.
“We need to debate it because we are already in May and how can parastatals be operating without any budget, especially in this time of fight against corruption.
“We need to take this matter seriously because clearly, these agencies are just flouting the guidelines and breaking the law.
“If as at middle of May, we have not received any budget from them, which money are they spending and with what authority?
“We need to look into that and take a decision that may be, they can only pay salaries until they bring their budgets here and approvals given,’’ Saraki said.
He stressed the need to address the issue and put an end to continuous disregard for laws in the country.
Meanwhile, the Spokesperson of the Senate, Aliyu Sabi, while briefing newsmen after plenary, named some of the agencies involved in the violation as the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC).
Others include Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and National Science Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI). (NAN)
CJM/OPI/OPI