The hard and soft copies of the 2016 Appropriation Bill presented to the leadership of the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari on December 22, 2015 have been declared missing.
Some of the lawmakers at the resumed sitting of the lawmakers after the Christmas and New Year break confided in our correspondent that the alarm about the whereabout of the vital document was raised at the closed-door session of the senators on Tuesday by Senate Leader, Alli Ndume.
The Senate was scheduled to commence deliberation on the proposed budget Tuesday, but according to sources, the lawmakers were shocked when the Ndume announced that the budget documents could not be found within the prescient of the national Assembly.
The Chairman, Senate Committee of Appropriation, Danjuma Goje, was subsequently mandated to lead a search for the documents and liaise with the presidency, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters, Ita Enang, and the national planning ministry on the matter.
Though details were still sketchy as at press time, there had been issues over the content of some sections of the Budget, with some senators and officials of the Presidency late last year saying that the estimate need not be sent back to President Buhari for adjustment.
Their contention was that once the figures remain the same, internal tinkering can be done by the National Assembly to have a perfect budget, the position which was shared by the Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Senator Ita Enang.
The Senators, it was learnt, resolved that the matters be kept under wraps, saying making it public could embarrass the presidency, the National Assembly and the country, but the Peoples Democratic Party lawmakers are accusing the presidency of being behind the theft of the documents.
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