Senate President Godswill Akpabio has claimed that he has never seen the budget of the National Assembly despite being the leader of the legislative arm.
CityNews reports that Akpabio made the declaration on Thursday while speaking during plenary on a motion to review the legislature’s internal procurement process and establish an internal tender board for contract awards.
The motion, sponsored by Kogi West Senator, Sunday Karimi, came less than twenty-four hours after Akpabio complained about faulty audio systems in the chambers.
The Senate President threatened to sue the contractor that renovated the National Assembly complex over persistent technical faults affecting the microphones in both chambers.
Responding to the motion raised by Karami, Akpabio said lawmakers should first understand the national assembly’s budget and spending before considering procurement reforms.
“We can set up a small committee to work with the management of both chambers… because personally I’ve never seen the budget of the national assembly,” he said.
Akpabio then asked the Senator representing Sokoto South, Aminu Tambuwal, whether the leadership of the green chamber had access to its budget during his tenure as the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
“You were a speaker… maybe in the house of representatives, they show you?” he asked.
“Yes,” Tambuwal replied.
Akpabio then added that the fault may be with the Senate. “You see. That’s the point. So, the fault lies here in the senate,” he said.
Akpabio lamented that as the Senate President, he seems to have little involvement in the management of the legislature’s finances.
“The way I do things, not that I’m nonchalant, it’s as if they make it a closed thing, and that the senate president doesn’t have anything to do with the management’s funds and all that,” he said.
He added that the Senate and the House of Representatives should jointly examine how the national assembly’s budget is allocated before debating procurement reforms.
“We should start with ourselves, and we should get the two chambers to know exactly what is going on.
“We should also debate and understand the budget. We should know how much is coming, what is going to where, and what is going to where,” he said.
Akapabio added that Karimi should have discussed the proposal with him, the clerk to the national assembly (CNA) and the management before bringing it to the floor.
“Talking about internal tenders board and all that, should it be in the public glare before we clean up our house?
“We should start with ourselves, and we should get the two chambers to know exactly what is going on. We should also debate and understand the budget. We should know how much is coming, what is going to where and what is going to where. This motion is premature,” he said.
Akpabio then asked Karimi to withdraw the motion, and the senator complied.
