Budget cut: We slashed allocations for some projects to correct geopolitical imbalance - NASS
- The National Assembly has explained why allocations for some projects in the 2018 budget were slashed
- The lawmakers said that the decision was to correct the alleged imbalance in the appropriation bill
- The chairman of the Senate committee on media and public affairs, Aliyu Sabi-Abdullahi, said the budget was slashed “in order to give every geopolitical zone a sense of fairness"
Following the criticisms that have trailed the slashing of the 2018 budget by the National Assembly, the lawmakers have explained that allocations for some projects were slashed to correct the alleged imbalance in the appropriation bill.
Punch reports that the lawmakers said that the projects as proposed in the 2018 appropriation bill presented by President Muhammadu Buhari was lopsided.
Legit.ng gathers that the clarification was made by the chairman of the Senate committee on media and public affairs, Senator Aliyu Sabi-Abdullahi, at a joint press conference in Abuja on Friday, June 22.
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The chairman of the House of Representatives committee on media and public affairs, Senator Razak Nandas, was with his Senate counterpart during the clarification.
According to Sabi-Abdullahi, the reduction of the proposed allocations to the projects and re-allocation to others in the budget was “made in order to address geopolitical imbalances in the budget as proposed by the executive."
He said that the budget had to be increased “in order to give every geopolitical zone a sense of fairness."
Sabi-Abdullahi added: “Everything the National Assembly has done is within its powers.”
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Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the deputy Senate president, Ike Ekweremadu, faulted the National Assembly committees for slashing budget for the Akanu Ibiam Airport in Enugu.
The Senate president spoke on the 2018 budget in a statement by his special adviser on media, Uche Anichukwu, on Thursday, June 21.
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Source: Legit.ng
