Budget defence: Reps allege poor presentations by MDAs

The House of Representatives says the 2020 budget defence is taking longer than expected owing to poor presentations by some ministries, departments and agencies.

The spokesman of the House, Benjamin Kalu, in a chat with Daily Trust yesterday, said the affected MDAs had been ordered to do some amendments, represent their respective budget estimates and appraise their 2019 budget performance.

“The budget defence ought to have been done. We intend to round off everything on the 5th of November. You see, when you are running a race, it is good once in a while to apply the principle of appraisal. You wait a bit and assess yourself,” he said.

He, however, noted that the budget defence had been a success as MDAs did not disappoint the House except for some hitches which, he said, were always promptly addressed.

He said President Muhammadu Buhari had promised to release 40 percent of capital projects that would cover ongoing projects by MDAs as they had been advised not to award fresh ones in 2020.