The Deputy Majority Leader in the Senate, Alhaji Bala Na’allah, has reacted to President Muhammadu Buhari’s claims that the lawmakers inflated the 2018 appropriation bill.
While signing the budget at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, the President expressed concerns that it would be difficult for the purpose of the 2018 budget to achieved due to some changes made by the national assembly.
Reacting, Na’allah said on Wednesday that the National Assembly was unperturbed by President Buhari’s concerns about the adjustments it made in the 2018 Appropriation Bill.
Na’allah, addressing reporters in Abuja, said that the job of the National Assembly was a very difficult one, adding that the way the budget came warranted that the National Assembly carried out some adjustments.
“If we had allowed it to go that way (it came) we would have been in trouble with those who elected us into office.
“You have to balance between the six geo-political zones.
“It is the balancing effort by the National Assembly that led to those observations and happily enough he himself has said that he is coming with supplementary appropriation which will be dealt with as quickly as possible.
“I assure you about that one.
“It is a very delicate issue; if someone says he wants N500 billion for the maintenance of the nation’s bridges and then you expect the National Assembly to say that budget is approved because it is coming from the executive then we have not done our work.
“We will be interested in knowing which roads you say you want to maintain so that we do not give another allocation in the next budget.
“The President’s observations are correct but in the budgeting process those things are normal,’’ Na’allah stated.
