The Nigerian Senate has opened a debate on the general principles of the 2022 Appropriation Bill as part of the consideration of the bill laid before the joint session of the National Assembly on Thursday last week by President Buhari.
President Muhammadu Buhari had presented and laid before the Lawmakers, an appropriation bill of over N16,391,023,917,692, seeking their approval for the fund ahead of the 2022 Fiscal year.
A few of the Senators present on the day’s plenary made their contribution to the bill while others are scheduled to make input on Wednesday being the last day for the debate, before the bill is passed for second reading.
President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan urged his colleagues to make themselves available on Wednesday for Chamber to conclude the debate and proceed to the next stage of Budget defence sessions by the MDAs.
E-Transmission of results
In another development, Senate also reversed its decision on the mode of election results transmission, as contained in the Electoral Act 2021.
Tuesday’s decision followed its consideration of a motion seeking re-committal of four specific clauses (43, 52, 63, & 87), to its committee of the whole for consideration and passage.
Accordingly, the Senate resolved that ”INEC has the sole responsibility to determine how to transfer election results but such results must first be announced and declared at the specific polling units across the country.”
It also confirmed that ”the latest decision became necessary after critical examination of the Bill and the need to guarantee security of votes while ensuring that no eligible voter is disenfranchised irrespective of their location.”
The Senate approved in the bill, direct party primaries for the purpose of nominating candidates by the various political parties involved in an election.
Mercy Chukwudiebere
