2016 BUDGET SAGA: BUHARI ASKS SENATE TO CONSIDER "CORRECTED BUDGET"

President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday, asked the National Assembly to drop the version of the 2016 budget proposal he submitted at a joint sitting of both chambers of the federal

legislature on December 22, 2015.

Instead, Buhari, in a letter to the federal parliament and read on the floor by Senate President Bukola Saraki, asked the lawmakers to consider the corrected version which had been forwarded to the chambers already.

The letter read in part, “It will be recalled that on Tuesday, 22 December, 2015, I presented my 2016 budget proposals to the joint sitting of the National Assembly.

“I submitted a draft bill accompanied by a schedule of details.

“At the time of submission, we indicated that because the details had just been produced, we would have to check to ensure that there were no errors in the detailed breakdown contained in the schedule.

“That has since been completed and I understand that the corrections have been submitted.

“The National Assembly would therefore have the details as submitted on the 22nd and a copy containing the corrections submitted last week.

“It appears that this has led to some confusion.

“In this regard, please find attached the corrected version. This is the version the National Assembly should work with as my 2016 budget estimates.

“The draft bill remains the same and there are no changes in any of the figures.”

The Senate, after Saraki had read the letter, unanimously adopted and approved the contents of the communication.

They also resolved to begin the consideration of the national fiscal document as from tomorrow (Wednesday).