Udoma Udoma, Budget and Planning Minister, has denied blaming the National Assembly for delaying the presentation of the 2019 budget.

Mr Udoma was quoted by several news medium as blaming the legislature for delays in presenting the budget approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) last week.

The blame led to reactions from members of the House of Representatives who threatened to boycott the presentation of the budget if the minister refused to tender an apology to the National Assembly.

Dismissing the report, Udoma said his comments were misconstrued.

“Going by the headlines in some news media today in respect of the presentation of the 2019 Budget to the National Assembly, it is obvious that some of the reporters misconstrued the response of the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, when he was asked when the budget would be submitted to the Legislature,” the minister said in a statement signed by Akpandem James, his media aide.

“The Minister simply said that as is the procedure when the budget is ready, the Executive liaises with the National Assembly for a date which the Budget will be laid before the joint session of the Assembly; and that the process is on already.

“The Minister at no time throughout the interaction with the media blamed the National Assembly for the delay in the presentation, nor gave the impression that there was any issue between the two arms of government over the 2019 budget,” James added.