RAYMOND OZOJI reports
Investigations from the ongoing budget defence and bilateral talks with Ministries, Departments, Agencies and Parastatals of government at the state assembly complex Awka, have revealed that the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning has lost about N15 Million from its proposals due to the Ministry's inability to speak authoritatively and convince lawmakers why their 2026 budget should be approved.
This journalist equally gathered that apart from the Budget and Economic Planning Ministry, other MDAs who could not defend their bogus budgets had them slashed due to lack of comprehensive information on the need for approval.
Speaking to this journalist exclusively on the development, a member of the Finance and Appropriations Committee, who is also the House of Assembly Committee Chairman on Public Accounts, Hon. Noble Igwe,, said that lawmakers have been very thorough and diligent in their discussions with the representatives of the MDAs.
Igwe said questions such as what was approved for the current year and why budget for the incoming year should be approved formed hallmarks of the bilateral interactions; adding that where MDAs seeking approvals of their budget propositions provided concrete explanations as defence, they don't waste a second in approving such budgets but where reverse is the case, they also do not waste a second in slashing them and channeling resources to other needy MDAs.
Igwe noted that they have maintained standards so far and showing the interactions online real time so that the world would be part of the transparent process of the exercise even as he commended the Chairman House of Assembly Committee on Finance and Appropriations as well as other members of the Committee for judiciously delivering their constitutional assignments.
The lawmaker who emphasized that the interactions were between specific committees of the House of Assembly and the MDAs, maintained that they submitted their files prior to the day they would appear before the committees to enable the committees have ample time to look into their documents and ask questions as it relates to their budgetary allocations.
Igwe who represents Ogbaru 1 state constituency, stressed that budgets have been slashed and cut down since the bilateral interactions began on 1st December due to inadequate concrete information to authenticate budget claims; adding that it is the duty of the Finance and Appropriations Committee to ensure that funds were allocated inorder of priorities.
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