By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Yakubu Dogara, has promised to be transparent with the passage of the 2017 appropriation bill.
It would be recalled that the House was stained in 2016 with allegation of budget padding brought against by former Chairman of House Committee on Appropriation, Mr Abdulmumin Jibrin, who was suspended because of the issue.
In his welcome address on Tuesday, the Speaker said the House would avoid the repetition of budget fraud allegations which plagued the 2016 budget.
According to him, details of the 2017 budget worth N7.3 trillion would be debated and passed openly at plenary and during proceedings by the House of Representatives.
Mr Dogara said the 2017 appropriation bill would be a major tool to revamp the country’s economy.
The Speaker submitted that, “We must brace up and work assiduously and conscientiously to give Nigerians a budget that will not only lift us out of recession but kick start the needed expeditious journey into Nigeria’s prosperity. We pledge to reform the budget process.
“To this end therefore, we would ensure that the procedure and process of consideration and passage of the 2017 budget is transparent, inclusive and professionally handled. The details of the budget should be debated and passed in plenary to avoid those needless pitfalls that normally characterise the budget process,” he further said.