The Upper Chamber of the National Assembly will today resume deliberation on the 2013 Appropriation Bill after having formally received the treated Bill on Wednesday.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriation, Senator Mohammed Maccido, presented the budget report on the table.
According to the Senate President, David Mark, the copies of the budget report would be distributed to all senators between Wednesday (yesterday) and Thursday (today).
He opted that plenary should begin at 2pm as against the normal 10 am, in order for the committee to have enough time to sort out pending issues on the budget.
Spokesman of the Senate, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, disclosed that the Senate would pass the budget today before adjourning for the Christmas break.
In a similar development, the House of Representatives yesterday passed the N161.6bn supplementary budget for fuel subsidy.
The budget was endorsed in an undisputed voice vote after passing the third reading at the House.
It would be recalled that President Goodluck Jonathan had sent the supplementary budget to the National Assembly sometime last week, seeking approval to augment the initial N888.1bn voted for subsidy in the 2012 budget.
The bill stirred controversy amongst the lawmakers last week, with majority challenging it.
The lower chamber had demanded the details of the budget, urging the House to refer it to its Joint Committee on Appropriation/Petroleum Resources for investigation.
According to the Chairman of the committee, Mr. John Enoh, the investigation revealed that over N451bn of the earlier N888.1bn was used to settle arrears of subsidy for last year.
“We established that Mr. President is in order. The committee recommends for approval the sum of N161.6bn as requested,” Enoh said.
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