NASS committee on INEC. Soucre: Channels TV.
The National Assembly has set up an ad-hoc committee to review the budget of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the 2019 elections.
Famzn News recalls that the National Assembly Joint Committee on Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had approved N143 billion for the 2019 general election.
The committee adopted the amount which President Muhammadu Buhari presented to the legislature in July, after over one week of deliberation but refused to approve N45.6bn proposed to be vired from the 2019 budget.
The national minister of budget and national planning, Udoma Udoma, had said President Muhammadu Buhari requested the approval of N143 billion because he did not want an increase in the overall size of the N9.12trillion 2018 budget.
Udoma said if the joint committee wishes to approve the entire N189billion without resulting in an increase in the budget, it would be appreciated by the executive.
At its resumed sitting on Tuesday where INEC presented the N143 billion budget, the committee said the ad-hoc panel is to ensure the reviewed budget complies with what was sent earlier.
Addressing journalists after the closed-door session, Mao Ohuabunwa, a member of the committee said the committee is expected to submit it’s findings on Wednesday.
Ohuabunwa said: “INEC was mandated to bring the break down based on the N143 billion. They have brought it and we set up an ad-hoc committee to look at it with what they brought earlier and if there are areas of discrepancies, we would invite them to defend.
“But we have adjourned to allow the sub-committee to holistically look at the breakdown. So that we would reconvene at 4 pm Wednesday.
“When we look at it, the defense is depending on what we discover. If there are areas we are not in agreement with or we need further explanation, we would invite them to clarify.”
The national assembly is expected to cut short its recess to reconvene and pass the budget when the committees conclude work on it.