2013 budget presentation: Jonathan seeks new date

October 2, 2012 by Oluwole Josiah 

 

President Goodluck Jonathan
| credits: nigerianbulletin.com

President Goodluck Jonathan will pick a new date to present the 2013 budget to the joint session of the National Assembly instead of the earlier Thursday date he had proposed.

This indicates that he may have accepted the position of the National Assembly not to have him address the lawmakers on Thursday.

His request to make the presentation on that date was first turned down by the House of Representatives, with a concurrence from the Senate.

The reason for this was because the Medium Term Expenditure Framework earlier sent to the National Assembly by the President had not been passed by any of the chambers.

The Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters, Senator Joy Emodi, told our correspondent on Monday on the telephone that the Jonathan would pick another date suitable to members of the National Assembly for the presentation of the budget proposals.

She said there was nothing to be anxious about in what the lawmakers did, because it was the normal procedure for the expenditure framework to be passed first before the budget.

Emodi said, “There is no need for tension or friction because they (lawmakers) did not turn down the date proposed by the President, but were only ensuring that the procedure was followed.

“A new date will be picked, maybe in another two weeks, and the budget will be presented.”

She also ruled out the presentation of the budget by proxy or merely by sending it to the National Assembly to be laid before the chambers.

Emodi said the President would still make the budget presentation once a date was agreed upon.

“Don’t forget that the legislature is a part of this government. What we are trying to do is to ensure the development of the country despite being in different arms of government,” she added.

SOURCE: The Punch - Nigeria's Most Widely Read Newspaper 2 October 2012.