Buhari writes Reps, seeks passage of budget for NNPC, FIRS, others

PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari, on Tuesday, wrote the House of Representatives, urging it to expedite action in the passage of  budget proposal of 38 federal government’s agencies and corporations, to enable them to effectively execute their mandates.

President Buhari’s letter, dated June 30, 2016 and addressed to the Speaker, Honourable Yakubu Dogara, which was read on the floor on Tuesday, specifically sought the approval for the 2016 budget proposals of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority and Nigeria Nuclear Regulatory Authority.

Others were Nigerian Ports Authority, National Maritime Authority, Nigerian Shippers Council, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC), News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) and National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

The president’s letter, which is in compliance with the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007, however, said that budgets of agencies and corporations that had been privatised or otherwise ceased to exist were not included in the proposal.

This came just as the Speaker, on Tuesday, tasked  journalists to expose mistakes of public office holders, with a view to correcting them.

Dogara gave the challenge in Abuja, while inaugurating the new executive officers of the House Press Corps, adding that  it was only when journalists engaged in constructive criticisms of the activities of the House that the lawmakers could sit up.