2021 Budget: NASS Releases Details Of Its N128b Allocation

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The culture of secrecy surrounding the annual allocations to the
legislative arm may be over following the decision of the
leadership of the 9th National Assembly to release details of the
over N128billion appropriation for 2021.

The breakdown obtained by The
Natio ^[1]n, Not
TheNigerialawyer includes: National Assembly
Management (N15,967,404, 815); Senate (N33. 267,001,807); House of
Representatives (N51,994,511,954); National Assembly Service
Commission (N5,734,166,662); Legislative aides (N9,602,095,928);
Public Account Committee(Senate)-N118,970,215; and Public Account
Committee House of Representatives) — N142,764,258.

Others are General Service (N9,134,672,079); National Institute
for Legislative and Democratic Studies (N7, 372,813,596);
Service-Wide Vote (N389,354,934) and Office of the Retired Clerks
and Permanent Secretaries (N275,243,752).

Sources said the 9th National Assembly under the leadership of
President of the Senate, Dr. Ahmad Lawan, and House of
Representatives Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, decided to end the
culture of secrecy that historically surrounded the budget of the
country’s highest legislative making body.

A top source said: “In recent time, only the total budget of the
National Assembly has been known to the public as a single line
item under Statutory Transfers.

“The National Assembly has gone further to break down its budget
under the same Statutory Transfers. The National Assembly budget
breakdown is obviously in line with the pledge made by its
leadership to ensure greater openness and accountability.

“This is notwithstanding of the fact that the Clerk to National
Assembly is the Chief Accounting Officer and administrator of the
finances of the National Assembly.

“You can see these details in the draft budget passed by the
federal lawmakers on December 21, 2021, and published in the Order
Paper of the House of Representatives of the same day.

“It is obvious that in a N13, 588, 027886, 175 trillion budget,
what is voted for the lawmakers is not even up to N150billion.”

Responding to a question, a principal officer of the National
Assembly said: “There is too much pressure on lawmakers as if the
nation’s budget is wholly allocated to us. Now, Nigerians can read
between the lines on what actually comes to us.

“We now have details of the amount spent on the NASS
bureaucracy; amount spent on the Senate (bureaucracy, facility
management, Senate Services and programmes; salaries and allowances
etc.); amount spent on the House of Representatives (bureaucracy,
facility management, House Services and programmes; salaries and
allowances etc.); amount spent on the National Assembly Service
Commission; amount spent on the training, salaries and allowances
of legislative aides; amount spent on the Public Accounts Committee
of the Senate and the House; General Services; amount spent on the
Research/Academic arm of the National Assembly – National Institute
of Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS); Service Wide Votes
of the National Assembly; and contributions to the retirement
benefits of former Clerks and Permanent Secretaries of NASS.

“The breakdown will encourage Nigerians to put the executive to
task on how the nation’s budget is being managed. It will also
guide those in the civil society on where to run to for
accountability.

“We are ready to give more details on how the National
Assembly’s budget is spent.”

There had been an outrage over the N128billion budget for
2021.

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP)
described the National Assembly budget as a ‘travesty’.

SERAP, in a tweet, asked Lawan and Gbajabiamila “to urgently
push to cut the N128bn budget for the National Assembly in
2021.”

It said: “The National Assembly ought to prioritize spending for
education and healthcare. We’ll see in court if our lawmakers
approve this money for themselves.”