I’ve never seen National Assembly budget - Akpabio

Senate President Godswill Akpabio has voiced alarm over the lack of transparency in the National Assembly's finances, revealing that he has never personally seen the institution's budget. His call for greater openness comes as the Senate considers reforms to its procurement processes.

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Personally, I have not seen the budget of the National Assembly. Senator Tambuwal, you were a Speaker, I don’t know, maybe in the House of Representatives, they showed you.

During a debate on a motion to establish an Internal Tender Board for the National Assembly, sponsored by Senator Sunday Karimi, Akpabio emphasized that enhanced transparency in budgeting and financial management should precede any procurement reforms. He noted that even former Speakers might not have had full visibility into the budget details.

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Two of the problems that we have in the National Assembly regarding the management of finances and the budget do not solely lie in the process of procurement. The problem has been that the National Assembly has not set up a Budget and Research Office.

Senator Adamu Aliero echoed these concerns, highlighting the absence of a functional Budget and Research Office as a critical issue. He argued that lawmakers themselves are often unaware of the budget's intricacies, making it difficult to scrutinize expenditures. Aliero suggested deferring the procurement reform motion until the internal financial structures are adequately addressed.

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What is happening today is that we don’t even know and we don’t even see the budget of the National Assembly being presented here so that we can interrogate and understand the lines of expenditure.

The motion to establish an Internal Tender Board was eventually withdrawn. Senators criticized it as premature, arguing that the National Assembly's financial independence, while constitutionally guaranteed, requires a clearer understanding and oversight of its budget before implementing new procurement mechanisms. The consensus was to address the foundational issues of budget transparency and research capacity first.

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My opinion is that the Senator should step down this motion. Let us get the house right first before we talk about the issues that the Distinguished Senator Karimi is raising.