The National Assembly is set to increase its budgetary allocation in the 2017 budget to N150 billion from N115 billion, it has emerged.
A competent source in the National Assembly told Daily Sun that there is a consensus among leadership of the Senate and the House of Representatives that the federal legsilature has to jack-up its budgetary allocation in the 2017 budget, with N150 billion being the benchmark.
“You can take my word to the bank that the National Assembly is going to increase its allocation to a minimum of N150billion to ensure that we can meet our financial obligations,” he said.
The current allocation has led to many challenges the leadership of the National Assembly has struggled to manage such as delays in the payment of lawmakers’ wages, months of unpaid salaries of legislative aides and the inability of lawmakers to travel for international summits as frequently as their predecessors,” he said.
This is even as Daily Sun also learnt that the staggered supply of the controversial official vehicles for lawmakers was listed as one of the effects of inadequate budgetary allocation to the legislature.
The lawmaker, who is a committee member which the budget was referred to, noted that if the vote to the judiciary was increased, that of the National Assembly has to be reviewed upwards.
“The President announced the increase in the allocation to the judiciary, saying it will further enhance their independence.
President Muhammadu Buhari had while presenting the 2017 budget to the legislature announced increased allocation to the legislature to N100 billion compared to N70 billion in the 2016 budget.
A top member of the House, who also confirmed plans to increase the budget of the 469-member National Assembly, legislative aides, the National Assembly Commission and the Legislative Institute, said it has to be done to mitigate the effect of inflation and the crash of the naira.
The budget to the National Assembly has remained a subject of controversy with the legislature getting N150 billion from 2011 to 2015. Despite the reduction of the allocation to N115 billion in 2016 following public criticism, Senate President Bukola Saraki, in response to calls for a transparency, promised to give a breakdown of National Assembly budget in May, but he was yet to do so.
Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Abdulrazak Namdas, said it would be “premature” to make definitive statements on the 2017 budget.