It has been confirmed that the National Assembly will reconvene next week Tuesday, August 14, 2018 as confirmed by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yussuff Lasun.
The agenda will primarily be the presidential budget request to fund INEC’s operations for the 2019 polls, he said.
In a related development, the leadership of the two chambers of the National Assembly may have resolved to reconvene the federal legislature next week, to consider the N242 billion budget proposal for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the conduct of the 2019 general elections.
This was disclosed on Wednesday by the chairman of the INEC, Prof Mahmood Yakubu shortly after a closed door meeting with the leadership of the two chambers of the federal legislature.
READ ALSO: JUST IN: EFCC finally arrests former DSS boss Ita Ekpenyong after a failed attempt in 2017
Speaking earlier at the opening session of the meeting, Prof Yakubu said unless something is done urgently, INEC might miss the six-month window for the procurement of certain tools and equipment required for the conduct of the election.
According to him, to meet up with the six-month window, the required funds should be in the commission’s coffers by August 15, a day that the six months will start counting before the date for the first round of election.
The INEC chair further explained that of the N242 billion budget proposal, N164 billion was urgently needed by August 15, to enable the commission purchase the first batch of tools and equipment.
Yakubu said the INEC would make do with the initial N164 billion, while awaiting the remaining N78 million that would be processed later through a supplementary budget.
The INEC chair observed that this would be the first time since 1999 that the commission’s election budget would be subjected to scrutiny by the National Assembly.
READ ALSO: DSS INVASION OF NATIONAL ASSEMBLY: APC reverses itself on DSS invasion of National Assembly
He stated that in all the previous election circles, the commission used to get its funds on time for preparations and execution of its mandate.
www.sojworld.com © August 9, 2018
Leave a Reply