Senate To Pass 2020 Budget Today

The Nigerian Senate will on Thursday (today) passed the 2020 Appropriation bill which is before the National Assembly, Senate President Ahmad Lawan has said.

Lawal disclosed this during Wednesday plenary shortly after the Public Procurement Act 2007 amendment bills were passed.

The National Assembly chairman noted that the Public Procurement bill passed by the upper chamber will complement the 2020 budget.

He said: “What we have done today is really to put the icing on the cake on what we are about to do tomorrow by the grace of God when we pass the 2020 budget.

“We have already passed the Finance bills that will ensure that we get the required revenue to implement the budget.”

Chairman of the Committee, Senator Shuaibu Isah Lau, in his presentation, said: “certain amendments were made on the bills to encapsulate the ingredients of the varied views collated from experts and professionals, aimed at adding value to the Procurement Act.”

The Senate, in a clause-by-clause consideration of the bill, adopted the recommendations of the committee with slight amendments made to Section 1 under the Establishment of National Council on Public Procurement.

The Senate also adopted the committee’s recommendation on the issuance of Certificate of No Objection which shall be issued by a Committee of Directors of the Bureau to the chaired by the Director-General of the Public Procurement Bureau.

“The public procurement process in Nigeria has been a big bottleneck for some time, probably since it was passed.

“I believe that with this amendment, the procurement process will be faster and better, as will be the budget implementation process.

“Surely, this bill will have to go to the House of Representatives for them to concur.