2019 budget will be passed before exit of 8th Senate – Senator Ogbuoji

The deputy chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriation, Senator Sonni Ogbuoji, has assured Nigerians that the 2019 budget will be passed before the exit of the 8th Senate.

Ogbuoji, who spoke to journalists yesterday, noted that the 8th Senate has worked out modalities towards positive implementation of this year’s fiscal policy for the nation.

He dismissed the allusion that the present jostling for the leadership of the coming 9th National Assembly would affect the passage of the 2019 appropriation bill.

“What is happening concerning the jostle for the leadership of the two chambers of the National Assembly will never be an excuse to delay or necessitate an unprofessional conclusion of the budget passage processes.

“Politicking for the leadership of NASS has got nothing to do with the passage of the budget bill for 2019.

“We at the Appropriation Committee have already set everything in motion to make sure the process is not hampered with.

“We are aware of the peculiarity of the budget of this year, but we are encouraged by the recent statement by the Central Bank of Nigeria and African Development Bank which respectively gave a better hope that the nation’s economy will grow at a rate of 3 and 4 percent this year,” he said.

The senator also asked Nigerians never to be perturbed by the political scheming for the leadership of the 9th NASS.

He said the legislature at the national level experienced the same test in 2015 prior to choosing the leadership of the 8th National Assembly.

“We still rose above that and did the right thing. So, I am persuaded that at last common sense that puts the interest of the nation first would prevail and work out a smooth process that will engender a productive leadership that will focus mostly on those prime duties of the NASS to make sure our democracy grows stronger,” he added.