The Public Account Committee (PAC) Of the House of Rep has summoned 63 agencies for implementing a N2 trillion unauthorized budget, stating that there is no proof of approval for the National Assembly.
Oluwole Oke, being the chairman of the committee that issued the summons, also wrote a letter to the Director-General, Budget Office of the Federation, Ben Akabueze, demanding proof of the budget approvals by the National Assembly. The letter was sent on November 8, 2022, and received at the Budget Office on the 10th of November, 2022
The House committee said the request was relative to the President’s remark during his 2023 budget presentation to the National Assembly on October 7, stating that some agencies are operating unauthorized budgets.
The letter is titled ‘Re-Request for Information/Documents concerning Allegations of Illegal Approvals of Budgets and Extra-Constitutional Expenditure by Some Government Owned Enterprises and Non-Treasury Funded Agencies’.
It read in part: “In pursuance of the power conferred on the National Assembly (Assembly) by Sections 88 and 89 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as altered) (Constitution), Standing Rules of the House of Representatives, and based on Section 2 of the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act 2017, the Public Accounts Committee is investigating the allegation made by President Muhammadu Buhari, (Mr President), during the presentation of the 2023 Appropriation Bill before a joint session of the National Assembly.
“Mr President alleged that some government-owned enterprises have been submitting their budget and getting it passed through some committees of the National Assembly outside of the process prescribed in Section 81(1) of the Constitution.
“Given the above and in line with Sections 88 and 89 of the Constitution, I hereby request that the Budget Office of the Federation furnish the committee with the approved Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) budget of the following parastatals for the period 2015-2022.
“Please kindly submit a soft copy and 15 hard copies of the above documents/information to Suite 4.23 House of Representatives Building, National Assembly, on or before the close of work on Friday 16th November 2022.”
Highlighting more on the issue, Oke said, “Over N2 trillion was spent illegally.
“Mr President has never presented or assented to these budgets. They are to tell Nigerians why they are operating illegal budgets; budgets that have not gone through the due process of lawmaking.
“Mr President never presented them to the Parliament neither the Speaker nor the Senate President sighted or read them on the floor.
“All the agencies fingered have all been invited.”
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