The Chairman, Senate Committee on Media And Public Affairs, Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi has said that no statement made by any Senator during the plenary could be interpreted to mean an admission that the 2016 budget is missing.
He said there was no budget missing and that the Senate will today (Thursday) distribute copies of the budget to all the Senators so as to arm them to properly contribute to the debate, which will take place between Tuesday, January 19 to Thursday, January 21, 2015.
Already, all senators have indicated the date they will make their own contribution on the budget.
Abdullahi stated that during plenary when Senator Eyinaya Abaribe sought for clarification on the story in the media surrounding the information that the copy of the 2016 budget submitted to the Senate was missing, the Senate President replied that the issue he (Abaribe) mentioned and all issues emanating from the executive sessions were being looked into by an adhoc committee and that all Senators should wait for the committee to submit its report.
“We have reeled out our time table for working on the budget. So, how can the same budget be missing? The Senate President never said or admitted that the budget is missing and there was nothing that he said while presiding over the plenary that could be logically interpreted to mean am admission that the budget is missing.
“The media should please avoid unnecessary sensationalism. We assure Nigerians that our time table of completing work on the budget by February ending remains sacrosanct and we will work assiduously to achieve it”, he said.
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